Murder charge upheld for the only suspect to face prosecution in 1996 Tupac Shakur killing

LAS VEGAS — (AP) — The only suspect ever to be charged in the 1990s killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas has lost a bid to have his murder case dismissed.

In a ruling Tuesday from the bench, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny said Duane “Keffe D” Davis isn't protected against prosecution because he has not provided proof of immunity deals that he says he reached years ago with federal and local authorities while still living in California.

Davis and his lawyer had argued that he never should have been charged with murder because of those deals. Attorney Carl Arnold also said the indictment against his 61-year-old client is an "egregious" violation of his constitutional rights because of a 27-year delay in prosecution, but Kierny said she found no evidence that it was intentional.

Arnold said after court they will decide in the coming days if they will appeal the judge’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

Davis' trial in Las Vegas is currently scheduled for March 17, but it could be delayed while he appeals. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and remains jailed in Las Vegas.

Prosecutors have said the evidence against Davis is strong, including his own accounts of the 1996 shooting in his tell-all memoir. Davis, an ex-gang leader, is accused of orchestrating the shooting near the Las Vegas Strip that killed Shakur shortly after a brawl at a casino involving Shakur and Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.

Davis is originally from Compton, California. He was arrested in September 2023 in his neighborhood near Las Vegas, nearly 30 years after the shooting that became one of hip-hop's most enduring mysteries.

In interviews and his 2019 memoir that described his life as a leader of a Crips gang sect in Compton, Davis said he obtained a .40-caliber handgun and handed it to Anderson in the back seat of a car from which he and authorities say shots were fired at Shakur in another car.

Davis is the last living suspect. Anderson had denied involvement in the shooting before his own death in 1998. Two other men in the car with Anderson and Davis are also dead.

Shakur's death at 25 came as his fourth solo album, "All Eyez on Me," remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold. Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.