Jurors were presented last week with audio recordings from a “secret” 2008 police interview with Duane “Keefe D” Davis, the prime suspect in the ongoing murder trial of Tupac Shakur.
In the tapes, Keefe D told cops that his nephew, Orlando Anderson, fired the fatal shots after he was involved in a fight with the “All Eyez On Me” rapper and his entourage earlier.
The trial for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur is well underway after jury selection began on August 10, followed by official opening statements on August 17 in a Las Vegas courtroom.
During a court session last week, jurors got to hear a once-“secret” interview prime suspect Duane “Keefe D” Davis had with police in 2008, per Rolling Stone.
In the recordings, he vividly describes the night Tupac was gunned down, naming his late nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, as the gunman.
“Don’t bullsh-t me, and I won’t bullsh-t y’all,” Keefe D told cops in the audio.
“Nothing you say can be used against you,” former LAPD Det. Greg Kading told him, although there seemed to be some hesitation on Keefe D’s part in believing the promise.
Keefe D Details How Tupac Shooting Unfolded
According to the 2008 recording, Keefe D was sitting in the front passenger seat of a rented white Cadillac alongside three other men, including his nephew, Anderson, who was seated directly behind him.
He told investigators that when they pulled up next to the black BMW carrying Tupac and Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight, he happened to be on the opposite side of the vehicle, so he passed a firearm to the backseat, where his nephew and fellow South Side Compton Crips member DeAndre “Dre” Smith were seated.
After Smith declined to take the gun, Keefe D stated that Anderson grabbed the weapon and opened fire on Tupac and Suge Knight.
“So Orlando shot across Dre?” one of the investigators asked.
“He leaned over on the window. He rolled down the window, popped ’em,” Keefe D replied. “If they drove on my side, I would have popped ’em, know what I’m saying. But they were on the other side.”
Biggie Murder Probe Led Cops To Keefe D’s Tupac Revelation
4The 2008 interview was originally conducted under a proffer agreement while LAPD investigators were probing the unsolved 1997 murder of Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace.
At the time, cops apparently had evidence that Keefe D was dealing drugs and approached him about it, especially as his criminal history could mean he’d face a life sentence.
When they eventually got around to talking after he secured a lawyer, they asked him if he was involved in Biggie’s death, as he was a key person of interest in that investigation. However, he denied it but mentioned he knew about Tupac’s.
“He said no, he didn’t have anything to do with ‘that one,’” former LAPD Det. Daryn Dupree testified on Wednesday. “We were like, ‘That one? What do you mean?’ And then he said, ‘We did the other one.’ …To me, personally, the only other one was Tupac.”
Explaining that the revelation caught them off guard, Dupree added, “We didn’t ask him any questions about Tupac. He offered that on his own. We were shook. We were surprised.”
Tupac’s Associate Seemed Uneasy About Testifying
4Also, during a court session last week, a member of Tupac and Suge Knight’s entourage was combative when pressed to testify.
According to the BBC, James “Mob James” McDonald seemed hesitant to identify those linked to the rapper’s murder and said he was threatened with being held in contempt of court should he refuse to testify.
When asked if he could identify the man responsible for Tupac’s murder, he lamented being made to testify.
“You’re asking me something that wouldn’t be good for him,” he said, pointing to Keefe D, before adding, “I don’t want to send you to prison.”
Tupac Associate Says Gang War Fueled Murder Fallout
4His hesitation echoes the street code that was seen among gang members at the time, which forbade police cooperation and promoted distrust of the authorities.
Reports suggested that even Tupac refused to talk to an officer in an ambulance, telling him, “we’ll take care of it.”
However, Keefe D’s lawyer, Michael Sanft, pressed on by asking McDonald if he’d witnessed the shooting that day and whether he knew the people involved.
Seemingly conflicted about breaking the street code, McDonald said he didn’t want to answer because it “wouldn’t be good” for the defendant.
“I don’t want to send him to prison, even though we don’t like each other. I don’t want to send you to prison,” he said, looking at Keefe D. “You’re asking me questions that can hurt him.”
He then explained that although he wasn’t there when the incident happened, those who were present had quickly relayed the word, and people wanted revenge for the attack.
“It was a gang war. People were getting hurt. People were being sought,” McDonald said. “Orlando (Anderson), him and certain other people were being sought because people wanted to kill them.”
“They were the main subjects of a gang war – they were in the middle,” he added.