Prosecutors allege Duane \u2018Keffe D\u2019 Davis ordered killing and provided gun in Las Vegas drive-by shooting 30 years ago<\/p>\n
Jury selection began on Monday in Las Vegas as the murder trial of a former gang leader finally got under way decades after the shooting of the rapper Tupac Shakur, one of the most high-profile unsolved killings in the US.<\/p>\n
It was thought likely to take at least the rest of the week to seat a jury for the trial of Duane \u201cKeffe D\u201d Davis, in which prosecutors aim to show that Davis, 63, the one-time leader of the South Side Compton Crips gang in California, ordered the killing and provided the gun for the fatal attack on Shakur.<\/p>\n
About 75 potential jurors were called to the courthouse on Monday to be questioned \u2060about their ability to be fair and impartial in such a high-profile trial. Davis faces a potential life sentence without parole if convicted.<\/p>\n
Shakur, 25, was gunned down at the height of his career, on 7 September 1996, as he sat in the passenger seat of a black BMW with the music mogul Marion \u201cSuge\u201d Knight in the Nevada tourist city, where the rap star had watched a boxing match featuring Mike Tyson and was on his way to a club to perform. Knight survived the shooting.<\/p>\n
Davis is the only person to be charged in the killing and is accused of murder with a deadly weapon \u2013 even though he is not alleged to have fired the shots himself.<\/p>\n
The proceedings are expected to last a month to five weeks before the judge, Carli Kierny. However, the trial remains unlikely to make clear who fired the fatal shots.<\/p>\n
William Lesane, who said he was Shakur\u2019s cousin, told reporters outside the courtroom that the trial was the culmination of 30 years of grief and trauma for his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we\u2019ll find out some new information. And more importantly, the right person is charged and convicted for Tupac\u2019s murder,\u201d Lesane said.<\/p>\n
Davis is the only person still alive out of the group that prosecutors believe attacked Shakur and Knight that night. They plan to present as evidence material from Davis\u2019s tell-all book, Compton Street Legend, which was published in 2019 and gives a vivid account of the shooting.<\/p>\n
The death of Shakur, also known as 2Pac, has prompted endless debate among music fans over who did it and why. The rapper was a key figure in a hip-hop rivalry pitting the US east coast against the west coast.<\/p>\n
Known for hits such as California Love and All Eyez on Me, Shakur \u2013 the son of a Black Panther \u2013 was raised in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem and Baltimore, Maryland, but quickly became the epitome of a California bad boy when he signed with the Los Angeles-based Death Row Records.<\/p>\n
The trial will revisit the battle between Death Row, founded by Marion \u201cSuge\u201d Knight, and Bad Boy Records, the east coast label created by Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs and featuring Christopher \u201cthe Notorious BIG\u201d Wallace, who was murdered in March 1997.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say Death Row Records was protected by Mob Piru, a Los Angeles gang that was part of the wider Bloods alliance. Knight was affiliated with the group. Bad Boy Records had hired the rival group South Side Compton Crips, led by Davis, as bodyguards.<\/p>\n
After the Tyson fight at the MGM Grand casino, Knight and Shakur attacked Davis\u2019s nephew, the Crips member Orlando \u201cBaby Lane\u201d Anderson, in retribution for an alleged assault on a Death Row employee. Davis was out for revenge, the prosecution says.<\/p>\n