TRUE CRIME NEWSKeffe D Denies Role in Tupac Shakur's Murder Before Trial: 'I Wasn’t in Nevada'
Keffe D denied his role in the murder of Tupac Shakur just before trial after speaking about it for years.
Aug. 10 2026, Published 3:25 a.m. ET
Duane Davis, or Keffe D, as he is most famously known, has denied his role in Tupac Shakur’s murder after publicly speaking out about it for years.
Davis, who is set to go on trial in the case on August 10, spoke to 8 News Now for an interview to plead his case to the public. During the conversation, he claimed that all of the previous statements he made were false.
Keffe D Denied His Role in Tupac Shakur's Killing
Keffe D said he helped Suge Knight establish Death Row Records.
Keffe D defended himself, saying, “I wasn’t in Nevada, period.”
He also stated that he helped Marion “Suge” Knight, the then-head of Death Row Records, establish the company, who was with Shakur in the vehicle when the shooting took place and was injured.
“Why would I kill our money like that?” Davis argued.
He admitted that all the statements he previously made about his role in the rapper's murder were falsehoods exaggerated to help him make money and sell his book for his family.
Keffe D said he won't be taking a plea deal during the trial for his alleged role in the murder of Tupac Shakur.
However, he did not realize the toll it would take on the very people he hoped to provide for with his alleged lies.
“I hate [that] I put my family in jeopardy like this,” he said, before adding, “I said, that’s…that’s one regret I have for my…my kids, my wife, my wife’s kids.”
He also revealed that he would not be taking a plea deal during the trial.
“I’m 63. I had a cancer battle, and I got three stents to my heart, and the average American lives like 74 years old … 10 years, I’m dead,” he stated.
“I heard it was like some 10 and 25. I’m not going to do that. You know what I’m saying? I’m not going to take a deal like that,” he added.
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Keffe D Publicly Spoke About His Role in Tupac Shakur's Murder
Tupac Shakur was reportedly riding with Suge Knight when he was fatally shot in Las Vegas.
The rap legend was shot on September 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting while riding shotgun with Knight near the Las Vegas Strip. Although Knight survived his injuries, Shakur succumbed to them in the hospital a few days later. No probable suspects had been identified at the time.
That is, until 2008, when Davis spoke with a federal task force in a “proffer,” an agreement in which a suspect provides useful information to the authorities on the condition that it can't be used against them. However, there are some exceptions.
He told federal agents at the time that the hip-hop star and Knight had assaulted his nephew earlier that night. Upon learning of the incident, he acquired a gun and set out to find Shakur and his companion with three other people in the car with him, according to a recent legal filing, per CNN.
Keffe D previously stated that he wanted to retaliate against Tupac Shakur as the rapper allegedly assaulted his nephew earlier on the night of September 7, 1996.
When they found the rapper's car, they allegedly pulled up next to him, and one of the people in the backseat, Anderson, started shooting at the pair.
He allegedly narrated the same events to the Las Vegas police, but due to his proffer, they could not bring charges against him at the time.
He later went public with his story, which included several interviews, and even a book published in 2019, titled Compton Street Legend: Notorious Keffe D’s Street-Level Accounts of Tupac and Biggie Murders, Death Row Origins, Suge Knight, Puffy Combs and Crooked Cops, where he recounted his intense desire for retaliation.
However, his very public statements and the book weren't part of the deal he made with the authorities, leading to his arrest on September 29, 2023.
A day later, a grand jury indicted him on charges of murder with a deadly weapon with gang enhancement. He has remained in custody ever since, with his bail set at $750,000.
