Latest news with #ComptonStreetLegend
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Man Accused of Tupac's Murder Speaks Out for the First Time Since Being Charged
Nearly two years after Duane 'Keefe D' Davis was arrested after being indicted for the September 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, the 61-year-old is finally speaking out. Although he's being charged for the murder of the hip-hop legend, he says that he played no part in his fatal shooting. In a jailhouse interview with ABC News, Keefe D was finally able to defend himself and denies any involvement in the drive-by shooting of Shakur nearly 30 years ago. 'I'm innocent,' said Davis. 'I ain't kill nobody. Never killed nobody. They don't have no evidence against me. Prove that I orchestrated this. You're key witness orchestrated this. Their top witness is the lead suspect.' Davis refers to Reggie Wright Jr., a former Los Angeles police officer who worked as a security guard for Suge Knight and other members of Death Row Records in the mid-1990s. Wright's original testimony in court led to Davis' indictment. Davis later adds that he's cooperated with authorities over the years: 'I did everything they asked me to do. Get new friends. Stop selling drugs. I stopped all that. I'm supposed to be out there enjoying my twilight at one of my f***ing grandson's football games, and basketball games. Enjoying life with my kids.' One of the main things working against Davis is that he went on record in several interviews confessing to being involved in Shakur's murder. In 2008, he also allegedly confessed to the murder as a part of a 'proffer agreement,' meaning that anything he told investigators at the time could not be used against him in court, according to ABC News. Authorities referred to the 2019 book, 'Compton Street Legend,' a memoir where Davis allegedly recounts the murders of both Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. Although he's credited as a co-author, Davis said he just did it for the money. 'I've never read the book,' said Davis. 'I just gave him [Yusuf Jah] details of my life. And he went and did his little investigation and wrote the book on his own.' Although prosecutors are confident that Davis will be convicted, the man himself says he has witnesses of his own that corroborate his whereabouts the night of shooting. He allegedly has '20 or 30 people' coming to the trial to say that he was in Los Angeles, not Las Vegas, the night of the shooting. The murder trial is scheduled for February 2026. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Keefe D Gives First Televised Interview Since Arrest For Tupac Shakur Murder
Duane 'Keefe D' Davis is speaking out in a televised interview for the first time since his 2023 arrest. In an interview with ABC News, the California native continues to claim his innocence as he awaits trial for the fatal 1996 shooting. 'I'm innocent,' shared the 61-year-old. 'I did everything they asked me to do. Get new friends. Stop selling drugs. I stopped all that,' he continued, referring to police and prosecutors. 'I'm supposed to be out there enjoying my twilight at one of my f**king grandson's football games, and basketball games. Enjoying life with my kids.' Davis also claimed that his infamous memoir Compton Street Legend did not feature his words, although he shares a co-writing credit. He also alleges, 'I've never read the book.' 'I just gave him details of my life,' Davis said of the author Yusuf Jah. 'And he went and did his little investigation and wrote the book on his own.' Elsewhere in the interview, Davis proclaims that he has witnesses that will support his alibi in the Las Vegas shooting. He also claimed previous interviews, writings, and other moments where he shared his side of the story were for financial gain. 'God got my back, and God will see me through this,' Davis said. 'He had my back with cancer, I survived the streets, and the FBI. That's a big accomplishment for a man from Compton.' Davis was initially taken into custody in September 2023 for one count of murder with a deadly weapon. Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo claimed that Davis was the 'on-ground, on-site commander' who 'ordered the death' of the Hip-Hop legend. In January 2025, Davis' attorney, Carl E.G. Arnold, filed a motion to dismiss the charges based on the delayed prosecutorial process in his case. He has also pointed to an alleged 'proffer agreement' that Davis made with federal investigators with claims that it included a blanket of immunity in exchange for information. The trial has been postponed until 2026. Davis has pleaded not guilty to all charges. More from Snoop Dogg Reacts To Suge Knight's Claim He's In Cahoots With 2Pac Murder Suspect Suge Knight Accuses Snoop Dogg Of Trying To Bail 2Pac Murder Suspect Out Of Prison Keefe D's Trial For The 1996 Murder Of Tupac Shakur Now Delayed Until 2026
New York Times
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Man Charged With Tupac's Murder Says His Prior Admissions Were False
Over the years, Duane Keith Davis, who goes by Keffe D, has claimed in interviews and a memoir that he was in the white Cadillac when one of the other passengers shot and killed the rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas in 1996. When Mr. Davis was arrested and charged with Mr. Shakur's murder in 2023, the Las Vegas police confirmed that Mr. Davis's own words had reinvigorated their dormant investigation. But now Mr. Davis, who is awaiting trial in the case, told ABC News in an interview from jail that he was innocent of the murder, that he had not been in Las Vegas at the time of the shooting and that he had not written or even read his 2019 memoir, 'Compton Street Legend,' which described the shooting and his role in it. 'They can't even place me out here,' said Mr. Davis, who has pleaded not guilty. 'They don't have no gun, no car, no Keffe D, no nothing.' Mr. Davis was charged in September 2023 with one count of murder with the use of a deadly weapon, plus a gang enhancement. Before his arrest, Mr. Davis gave numerous recorded interviews about the shooting. He repeatedly said that he was in the front passenger seat of the white Cadillac that pulled up near the vehicle holding Mr. Shakur after a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon. Mr. Shakur, one of the most prominent artists of the 1990s, was shot four times and died in a hospital days later. The three other people that prosecutors say were in the white Cadillac are now dead. Despite previously placing himself at the scene of the crime, Mr. Davis now says he was not in Las Vegas at all but at home in Los Angeles. He said that upward of 30 people will attend his trial — which was recently delayed until February 2026 — to corroborate his alibi. Mr. Davis also said that his admissions of responsibility in his 2019 memoir were bogus. 'I've never read the book,' Mr. Davis told ABC, adding that his co-author took liberties. (The co-author could not be immediately reached for comment.) 'I just gave him details of my life,' he said. 'And he went and did his little investigation and wrote the book on his own.' Mr. Davis's lawyer and the Clark County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. His lawyer has previously said that the stories Mr. Davis told in the book and in interviews were 'for entertainment purposes.' In the ABC interview, Mr. Davis blamed the killing on a former police officer who was working security for Death Row Records the night of the shooting. He did not provide evidence for that claim. The indictment against Mr. Davis was a stunning turn in the nearly 30-year-old cold case in which no one had ever been charged despite an abundance of speculation. Prosecutors say Mr. Davis 'ordered the death' of Mr. Shakur after a gang dispute involving his nephew, the rapper and his associates had escalated. Officials said in court papers that Mr. Davis had acquired a gun 'for the purpose of hunting down' the rapper and the leader of Mr. Shakur's record label, Suge Knight. Mr. Davis's trial was originally scheduled to begin this month, but a judge granted his lawyer's request for additional time to prepare. The verdict will most likely come down to whether jurors consider Mr. Davis's memoir and numerous videotaped interviews as legitimate admissions of guilt. In court documents, his lawyer has asserted that they are not, saying that parts of the memoir are fiction to make it more marketable.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tupac Murder Suspect Gives First Interview Since 2023 Arrest: ‘I'm Innocent'
Nearly two years after he was arrested in Las Vegas on suspicion of ordering the 1996 drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur, Duane 'Keffe D' Davis has given his side of the story. In a jailhouse interview conducted by ABC News out Thursday, Davis insisted that he is innocent of any wrongdoing involved in Shakur's long-unsolved death. 'I'm innocent,' he plainly told the outlet. 'I did not do it.' Shakur, an acclaimed rapper, activist, poet and actor (his film credits include roles in John Singleton's 'Poetic Justice' and Ernest Dickerson's 'Juice'), was sitting in a car driven by Death Row Records founder Suge Knight on the Las Vegas Strip on Sept. 7, 1996, when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside them. A shooter in the Cadillac's backseat opened fire, spraying the other car with bullets. Shakur was hit four times and died six days later from his gunshot wounds. He was only 25. The crime, which shook the hip-hop world, went unsolved until Las Vegas police arrested Davis in Sept. 2023 and a Nevada grand jury indicted him on one count of murder with a deadly weapon. At the time, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said that authorities believed Davis is the man who 'ordered the death' of Shakur. Davis, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge against him, told ABC News he is a 'good man' who has moved on from his days as a gangster in Compton, California. 'I did everything they asked me to do. Get new friends. Stop selling drugs. I stopped all that,' he said. 'I'm supposed to be out there enjoying my twilight at one of my f—king grandson's football games and basketball games; enjoying life with my kids.' Vegas authorities' case against Davis is largely built on his own comments about Shakur's killing, compiled from multiple interviews he gave over the years, as well as remarks made in his 2019 memoir titled 'Compton Street Legend,' which Davis is credited as a co-author of alongside Yusuf Jah. Davis now not only claims that he did not co-write the book, but that he hasn't even read it. 'I just gave him details of my life,' Davis said of Jah. 'And he went and did his little investigation and wrote the book on his own.' He has walked back some of his past claims, including that he was sitting in the Cadillac that pulled up alongside Shakur and Knight's car. Davis now says that he was 'in Los Angeles' the night of the drive-by shooting and that he has 'about 20 or 30 people going to come' to his trial to corroborate his whereabouts. 'They don't have nothing. And they know they don't have nothing,' Davis said of those prosecuting him. 'They can't even place me out here. They don't have no gun, no car, no Keffe D, no nothing.' He further alleged that he was 'paid' to play up his involvement in Shakur's murder in his past media appearances and memoir and argues that any confessions he gave to the police are connected to a 'proffer agreement' he made with a Los Angeles task force in 2008 that granted him immunity in return for information. Claiming that he only told the police what they wanted to hear so they would 'let me go,' Davis added, 'I'm not even supposed to be in jail. A deal is a deal.' In his interview with ABC News, the he additionally accused Reggie Wright Jr., a former cop responsible for partly running Knight and Shakur's security operations the night of the shooting, of being the actual 'lead suspect' in the murder. Wright Jr. testified before the grand jury that indicted Davis and has said that he spent a large part of that infamous 1996 night in a club that Knight and Shakur were planning on visiting before the shooting. Wright has denied any involvement in the shooting that killed Shakur. Davis, for his part, insists that he will survive and come out the other side of his trial a free man. 'God got my back, and God will see me through this,' he told ABC News. 'He had my back with cancer, I survived the streets and the FBI. That's a big accomplishment for a man from Compton.' His trial is currently set for Feb. 9, 2026. Davis' comments come just a week after a male escort filed a lawsuit against disgraced music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs accusing him of sexual assault in 2012. The escort claims in his suit that Diddy subsequently threatened to have him killed the same way he managed to 'get Pac hit.' The post Tupac Murder Suspect Gives First Interview Since 2023 Arrest: 'I'm Innocent' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tupac Murder Suspect Duane ‘Keffe D' Davis Insists He's Innocent in First TV Interview Since Arrest
Duane 'Keffe D' Davis is speaking out from behind bars as he faces a murder charge for the 1996 shooting death of Tupac Shakur. Davis, who pleaded not guilty, has remained at Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas since his September 2023 arrest, and he has now given ABC News his first-ever interview since being arrested. More from Billboard Duane 'Keffe D' Davis Murder Charge for 1996 Death of 2Pac Upheld in Court Diplo's Run Club Expanding to Six New Cities Hear Calvin Harris Tease a New Country-Oriented Song Featuring His Own Vocals 'I'm innocent,' he said in the sit-down, which aired Thursday (March 6) on Good Morning America. 'I did everything they asked me to do. Get new friends. Stop selling drugs. I stopped all that. I'm supposed to be out there enjoying my twilight at one of my f—ing grandson's football games and basketball games. Enjoying life with my kids.' 2Pac's murder remained a cold case until Davis' 2023 arrest nearly 27 years after the legendary Death Row rapper was gunned down in Las Vegas. Still, the former Crips gang member, who prosecutors believe was the 'shot caller' to orchestrate the hit on Pac, is confident he'll be found not guilty. 'I did not do it,' he insisted during the interview. 'They don't have nothing. And they know they don't have nothing. They can't even place me out here. They don't have no gun, no car, no Keffe D, no nothing.' Davis claims he was hundreds of miles away when the 2Pac shooting took place, and said he'll have about '20 or 30 people' coming to court to corroborate his alibi. He spoken about his alleged involvement in Pac's murder in the past, as he's given his account in numerous interviews as well as his 2019 Compton Street Legend memoir. However, back in 2008, Davis allegedly agreed to a proffer agreement with authorities connected to an L.A. task force, which would have granted him immunity from being prosecuted in the case. Per ABC News, he once again admitted his alleged role in Pac's murder a year later to detectives in Las Vegas, but they were not required to honor any previous agreements. A Clark County District Court judge ruled in January that Davis had not shown proof of any immunity deals. He's repeatedly been denied bail. Shakur was shot on Sept. 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. Authorities believe Davis orchestrated the hit with others in the car following a brawl at the MGM Grand casino. Davis was arrested in September 2023 and has been charged with first degree murder. He will head to trial in February 2026. Watch Davis' interview with ABC News above. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
