Jury selection took place in Las Vegas for the murder trial of Duane "Keefe D" Davis, accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of Tupac. Tupac's cousin William Lesane watched from the courtroom and told News 3 Las Vegas the moment marked a "culmination of three decades" of grief, anger and unanswered questions.
Prosecutors say the shooting followed a fight at the MGM Grand hours earlier in which Tupac's group attacked a nephew of Davis. Keefe D faces a charge of murder with a deadly weapon with gang enhancement, and prosecutors allege he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting. He has pleaded not guilty and faces life in prison without parole if convicted.
Lesane said watching Keefe D discuss his role in the killing on television for years felt like carrying "a 500-pound gorilla" on his back, calling it "the greatest form of disrespect." He still said he feels bad for Davis's family: "I feel bad for him, more so for his family, his children and his wife, but he dug that grave for himself."
Separately, Tupac's estate answered a lawsuit from Daz Dillinger, who says he was never properly paid for royalties on tracks including "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" and "I Ain't Mad At Cha." The estate, Amaru Entertainment, argues Dillinger instead owes it money, and accuses him of taking and selling one master recording, handwritten lyrics and dozens of studio reels, putting the losses above $1 million; it wants a jury to decide who owns the material.
Jury selection in the Keefe D case was expected to continue through the week. Suge Knight has separately said he would wreck the trial if called to the stand, and a jailhouse call reportedly cut against Keefe D's ghostwriter defense over a planned Tupac memoir. The case remains one of the longest-running open stories in hip-hop.
The facts
- Jury selection has taken place in the Keefe D case
- Keefe D is accused of a role in Tupac's 1996 murder
- William Lesane is Tupac's cousin
- Lesane confronted Keefe D at court over his bragging
- Daz Dillinger sued over royalties he says went unpaid
- Tupac's estate answered the suit
- The estate says Dillinger took archival material
- The estate puts the losses above $1 million
How this checks out
Developing
Reported by 3 independent outlets
A few outlets have it so far, short of the bar we set for confirmed.
Cited sources 3
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