Trial date for Tupac murder suspect Keffe D has been set for June 3, 2024 – but ex-gangster will NOT face the death penalty if convicted of a 1996 crime

Tupac Shakur’s alleged killer ‘Keffe D’ Davis is due to appear in court on June 3 for the 1996 murder of the American rapper, but the charge will not carry the death penalty.

Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis, 60, is a former Southern California street gang leader who was arrested in September for orchestrating the drive-by shooting in Las Vegas that killed Tupac Shakur 27 years ago.

Davis is the only person responsible from the car for firing the fatal shot at Shakur who is still alive – he is also the only person charged with a crime in connection with the murder. He now faces a trial on June 3, 2024.

The self-described “gang member” entered a not guilty plea in a Las Vegas courtroom on Nov. 2 after delays and uncertainty over his legal representation.

Prosecutors said they do not plan to seek the death penalty for Davis’ alleged crime.

When Davis appeared in court three weeks ago, he was represented by attorney Ross Goodman, but the attorney said he and Davis could not reach an agreement.

Goodman had said prosecutors have no witnesses or key evidence, including a weapon or vehicle, in the murder that was committed 27 years ago.

Before entering his plea, Davis stood in dark blue prison garb and answered a short series of questions, telling the judge that he had spent “a year in college,” was not under the influence of drugs, prescription drugs or alcohol, and that he understood that he was accused of murder.

Davis, 60, is originally from Compton, California. He was arrested on September 29 at a home in suburban Henderson, where Las Vegas police served a search warrant on July 17, drawing renewed attention to one of hip-hop music’s most enduring mysteries.

Davis remains jailed without bail, has not testified before the grand jury that indicted him and refused to leave jail to speak to The Associated Press.

The indictment alleges that Davis obtained a gun and gave it to someone in the backseat of a Cadillac before the car-on-car gunfire that fatally wounded Shakur and rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight at an intersection near the Las Vegas Strip.

Knight, now 58, is in prison in California serving a 28-year sentence for the 2015 death of a Compton businessman. He did not respond to messages from his attorneys seeking comment on Davis’ arrest.

Tupac Shakur was born in New York City to two Black Panther activists. He sold 75 million records worldwide and is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time.

Prosecutors allege Shakur’s murder was fueled by competition between East Coast members of a Bloods gang sect and West Coast groups of a Crips cult, including Davis, for dominance in a musical genre called “gangsta rap.”

The grand jury was told that the September 7, 1996 shooting in Las Vegas was in retaliation for a brawl hours earlier at a casino on the Las Vegas Strip involving Shakur and Davis’ cousin, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.

Prosecutors told a grand jury that Davis implicated himself in the killing in multiple interviews and a tell-all 2019 memoir that detailed his life as the leader of a Crips cult in Compton.

Shocking bodycam footage from September 29 showed Davis brazenly bragging about his participation in the “biggest case” in Las Vegas history during his arrest.

Footage of his arrest showed the moment Davis boasts that he is a “professional” as he is bundled into the back of the police car – and the fact that he is allegedly involved in the “biggest case in Las Vegas history” .

He told officers, who got out of an unmarked vehicle to arrest him, “I’m not giving up” and “I’m not worried.”

One of the officers tells Davis to “take a seat here” in the police car, before the man goes inside and tells them, “I’m a pro dude.” I understood.’

The arresting officer, clearly stunned by Davis’ confidence, said, “He said I’m pro.” Agree.’

During the arrest video, the murder suspect also joked about wanting to drink some water and being thirsty as police checked to see if he had any weapons and handcuffed his wrists.

It took police 27 years to arrest Duane “Keefe D” Davis for the murder of Tupac Shakur because he continued to build their case for them, a retired LAPD officer has claimed.

Friends of the hip-hop star demanded to know why it took so long to press charges, while Davis repeatedly bragged about his involvement in podcasts, interviews and even a memoir.

Mopreme Shakur, Tupac’s stepbrother, called Davis’ arrest 27 years after the rapper’s death “bittersweet.”

“We’ve been through decades of pain,” he told CNN. ‘They have known about this man for years, silencing him.

‘So why now? This is not over for us yet. We want to know why and whether there were any accomplices.’

“Maybe they said, ‘He’s already tied the noose, now let’s let him hang himself,'” said Greg Kading, who previously investigated Shakur’s killing.

“You didn’t just say it twice, you didn’t just say it five times, and now you have this compilation of so many confessions,” he added.

“The perception is that at this point it will be difficult for him to say, ‘Hey, I was just bragging, making stuff up.’

Davis claimed he told police as early as 2009 that he was in the Cadillac from which the bullets were fired.

Davis reportedly struck a deal with federal investigators in California in 2009 that allowed him to speak openly about a number of topics, including what he knew about the hip-hop star’s 1996 death in Las Vegas.

Experts warned that prosecutors may not be able to use the murder suspect’s statements against him. If they tried to do so, a legal dispute could break out in court, they warned.