A former Southern California street gang leader pleaded not guilty Thursday to manslaughter charges in the 1996 slaying of rap music icon Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas — a charge fueled by his own description in recent years of masterminding the fatal shooting.
Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis, the only surviving person who was in the vehicle that opened fire and the only person ever charged with a crime in the case.
In the courtroom gallery Thursday, Davis stood in shackles and waved to his wife, son and daughter as he awaited proceedings before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones.
“Not guilty,” Davis said when the judge asked for his plea.
The judge told Davis that prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in the case, which could put Davis in prison for the rest of his life if he is convicted.
Jones also named county special public defenders Robert Arroyo and Charles Cano to represent Davis at taxpayer expense, after Davis lost a bid to hire private defense attorney Ross Goodman.
Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis pleaded not guilty Thursday to Tupac Shakur’s murder, a charge fueled by his own description of masterminding the deadly shooting. AP
Goodman two weeks ago said prosecutors lacked witnesses and key evidence, including a gun or vehicle, for the killings that took place 27 years ago.
Outside the courtroom Thursday, Goodman said Davis is still trying to hire him.
Davis family members declined to comment.
Davis is the only person alive who was in the vehicle where the shots were fired and the only person ever charged with a crime in the case, according to reports. AP
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told reporters that he and a panel of prosecutors decided the case against Davis “is not the type of case that should be pursued by seeking the death penalty.”
He did not give a reason for the decision.
Wolfson also declined to respond to Goodman’s criticism of the lack of evidence, saying that a jury would weigh the results of the police investigation.
In court, Davis wore a dark blue prison outfit and answered several questions, telling the judge that he attended “a year of college,” was not under the influence of drugs, medication or alcohol, and that he understood he was being charged with murder. .
The judge set the next court date for Tuesday to schedule a hearing.
Davis, 60, is from Compton, California.
He was arrested Sept. 29 outside a home in suburban Henderson where Las Vegas police served a search warrant on July 17, drawing new attention to one of hip-hop music’s most enduring mysteries.
Davis remains jailed without bail, did not testify before the grand jury that indicted him and refused to speak to The Associated Press from jail.
Tupac died at the age of 25 after someone shot up his car at an intersection off the Las Vegas Strip. REUTERS The judge told Davis that prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty in the case, which could have put Davis in prison for the rest of his life, according to reports. AP
The indictment alleges Davis obtained and gave a gun to someone in the backseat of a Cadillac before the car-to-car shooting that fatally wounded Shakur and injured rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight at an intersection not far from the Las Vegas Strip.
Shakur died a week later. He is 25 years old.
Knight, now 58, is in prison in California, serving a 28-year sentence for the 2015 death of a Compton businessman.
He did not return messages through his attorney seeking comment on Davis’ arrest.
Prosecutors allege that Shakur’s murder in Las Vegas was the result of a rivalry between East Coast members of the Bloods gang and West Coast gangs of the Crips sect, including Davis, for dominance in the music genre dubbed “gangsta rap.”
A grand jury was told the Sept. 7, 1996, shooting in Las Vegas was retaliation for a fight hours earlier at a Las Vegas Strip casino involving Shakur and Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.
Prosecutors told a grand jury that Davis implicated himself in the killings in several interviews and a 2019 memoir that described his life leading the Crips sect in Compton.
Davis said he obtained a .40-caliber handgun and handed it to Anderson, a member of Davis’ gang, in the back seat of a Cadillac, although he did not identify Anderson as the shooter.
Anderson, then 22, denied involvement in Shakur’s murder and died two years later in a shooting in his hometown of Compton.
Another backseat passenger and the driver of the Cadillac also died.
In his book, Davis wrote that he told authorities in 2010 what he knew about the murders of Shakur and rival gang Notorious BIG, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, to protect himself and 48 Southside Compton Crips gang associates from prosecution and possible life in prison life
Prosecutors told a grand jury that Davis implicated himself in the killing in several interviews and a 2019 memoir, according to reports. AP Davis was arrested Sept. 29 outside a home in suburban Henderson where Las Vegas police served a search warrant on July 17. AP
Wallace, also known as Biggie Smalls, was shot and killed in Los Angeles in March 1997, six months after Shakur’s death.
Shakur is largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.
He has five No. 1 albums. 1, nominated for six Grammy Awards, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, and received a posthumous star this year on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
