30 Years After Tupac Shakur Was Killed, a Murder Trial Begins

Duane Davis speaks with attorney Michael Sanft during the fourth day of jury selection in a murder trial related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Aug.

13, 2026. —Bizuayeha Tesfaye—Pool Nearly 30 years ago, Tupac Shakur, known by the stage name 2Pac, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada.

One of four men in a white Cadillac fired 13 shots into the 25-year-old rap legend’s vehicle, according to TIME reporting from September 1996.

Shakur was riding with the co-founder of Death Row Records, Marion “Suge” Knight.

Knight was grazed by a bullet but survived.

Shakur was shot multiple times, and one bullet tore through his lung; he was pronounced dead at the hospital six days later on Sept.

13, 1996.

The events that unfolded have been the subject of many true crime documentaries, books, and podcasts.

But one fundamental question has remained unresolved: Who was responsible for Shakur's death? The first person ever charged in Shakur’s murder faces trial on Monday in Nevada.

Who is on trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur? And why now? On trial is Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips.

At the time of Shakur’s murder, the Crips were associated with the New York-based Bad Boy Records amid a hip-hop rivalry with the Los Angeles-based Death Row Records, which signed Shakur.

Davis is not accused of firing the shots that killed Shakur; rather, prosecutors allege that he orchestrated the attack.

He is charged with “murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang.” Under Nevada law , someone who aids or abets a crime—or encourages, hires, commands, or otherwise induces another person to commit it—can be prosecuted as a principal.

Shakur’s murder went unsolved for years, but it never faded from public interest.