The arraignment for the man accused of killing Tupac Shakur was delayed a second time on Thursday as he has not yet found an attorney to represent him.
Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis was charged last month in connection with the 1996 drive-by killing of rapper Tupac Shakur.
Almost 30 years after Tupac’s death
Close to 30 years after the death of the rapper, Davis, 60, was indicted by a Clark County grand jury on one count of open murder with use of a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement.
He has been in jail since he was arrested near his Las Vegas home.
On Thursday, Davis appeared in Clark County Court in a navy blue jumpsuit and shackles. He was walked into the room chained to other accused criminals who were there for processes concerning their cases.
His beard seemed to be graying and growing out.
The man stood as the judge began and ended his hearing in just seconds after Ross Goodman, THE lawyer representing him, said he could not confirm that he would remain his attorney and that they needed two more weeks to figure it out.
The case will get moving
The judge, Tierra Jones, said that if Goodman and Davis were not prepared by November 2, she would appoint a public defender.
‘In two weeks, we’re going to get this case moving,’ she said.
Goodman is a well known Las Vegas criminal defense attorney. His mother, Carolyn Goodman, is the current mayor of Las Vegas, and his father, Oscar Goodman, was also the city’s mayor.
Earlier this month, Davis’ arraignment was postponed a first time after he told the judge that his attorney, who was not in court with him that day, required a two-week continuance.
Shakur died at the age of 25 on September 7, 1996 days after being shot while in a car near the Las Vegas strip.
The drive-by killing
A white Cadillac pulled up next to the rapper’s car and immediately began shooting, according to police.
The fatal encounter happened just a few hours after a fight at the MGM Grand between members of two rival gangs from Compton, California.
The gangs were the Mob Piru Bloods and the South Side Compton Crips. Davis was, at the time, the ‘shot caller’ for the Crips.
He is accused of orchestrating the ‘retaliatory shooting’ that killed Shakur, though he may not have pulled the trigger himself, say authorities.
Davis has previously admitted to being in the Cadillac at the time of the shooting.
Police say that even if Davis did not fire the kill shot, his command would have authorized the trigger pull by someone else.
He is also accused of providing the gun used in the shooting.
They believe Davis obtained the gun that was used from a ‘close associate,’ but have declined to give any more details, saying they will emerge during the trial.
Police say that Davis is the only living suspect in the homicide case that remained dormant for years until it was ‘reinvigorated’ in 2018 when new information surfaced.
What his memoir tells
Davis wrote in his 2019 tell-all memoir ‘Compton Street Legend,’ that he was in the Cadillac involved in the shooting.
In the book, he said that he told authorities about his involvement in the killing in 2010, during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities.
‘They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out,’ he wrote.
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At the time, he was 46 and facing life in prison on drug charges when he agreed to speak with the authorities.
He was arrested two months after Vegas cops raided Davis’ wife’s home on July 17, looking for items ‘concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.’
During and after his career, Shakur was nominated six times for a Grammy Award and is largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.
He was feuding at the time with rap rival Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., who was fatally shot in March 1997.
