Tupac Shakur Murder Trial Begins 30 Years After Rapper's Dea

The trial of Duane 'Keffe D' Davis has begun, 30 years after the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Prosecutors allege Davis orchestrated the drive-by shooting that killed the hip-hop icon in Las Vegas.
Why it matters
The trial revisits a defining moment in American pop culture history and addresses one of the most famous cold cases in the music industry.
The trial of a former gang leader accused of orchestrating the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur finally began on Monday, 30 years after one of America’s most high-profile unresolved killings. The proceedings, expected to last a month, will likely not make clear who fired the shots that killed the California hip-hop legend on the night of September 7, 1996, while he was in Las Vegas to attend a Mike Tyson boxing match. But prosecutors aim to show that the defendant, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, ordered the killing and provided the gun used to kill Shakur in a drive-by shooting. The trial began Monday with jury selection, a process expected to last through the week. Davis, 63, appeared in court wearing a light-blue shirt and blue tie. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.
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