Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former gang leader arrested in September 2023 in connection with the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, has filed a motion to have the charges against him dismissed. His attorney, Carl Arnold, submitted the motion on Monday in Nevada’s District Court, citing constitutional violations due to the 27-year delay in prosecution.
The filing, reported by AP Entertainment, argues that the prolonged delay has caused irreparable harm to Davis’ ability to mount a fair defense. It also highlights the lack of corroborating evidence and alleges that immunity agreements previously granted to Davis by federal and local authorities have not been honored.
“The prosecution has failed to justify a decades-long delay that has irreversibly prejudiced my client,” Arnold stated in a press release. “Moreover, the failure to honor immunity agreements undermines the criminal justice system’s integrity and raises serious questions about the validity of this prosecution.”
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, who has maintained that the evidence against Davis is compelling, did not immediately respond to inquiries about the motion. Wolfson has previously asserted that a jury will ultimately determine the credibility of Davis’ accounts of the shooting, some of which were detailed in Davis’ 2019 memoir.
Davis, originally from Compton, California, has consistently denied involvement in Shakur’s killing. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and has sought release from custody since shortly after his arrest near Las Vegas. His legal team argues that the immunity agreements—allegedly granted during earlier interviews with law enforcement—should shield him from prosecution.
The motion could mark a pivotal moment in the decades-long investigation into one of hip-hop’s most infamous unsolved cases. Tupac Shakur, a trailblazing artist and cultural icon, was fatally shot on September 7, 1996, in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas. The case has been shrouded in speculation, with Davis publicly admitting in past interviews that he was present during the shooting but denying that he pulled the trigger.
A court ruling on the motion is expected in the coming weeks, which could either breathe new life into the case or cast further doubt on the prospects of justice for Tupac Shakur.
