Tupac Suspect Faces New Charge for Jail Battery

Posted on: January 26, 2025, 10:04h. 

Last updated on: January 26, 2025, 10:04h.

The Las Vegas man accused of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rap legend Tupac Shakur now has a new charge to answer to. On Sunday, Duane “Keffe D” Davis was charged with battery by a fellow inmate at the Clark County Detention Center, where the 61-year-old has been held since his arrest in September 2023. The incident occurred on Friday, according to records reported by KLAS-TV/Las Vegas.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis is shown being led into a Clark County courtroom last year. (Image: CourtTV)

Davis is due to appear in court on the new charge Tuesday. A Clark County  judge set bail at $50K more for the new charge, upping his total bail to $800K.

Ongoing bail issues have plagued Davis, who has previously been denied it due to concerns over the legitimacy of the funds he secured.

This has not been a banner week for Davis. On Wednesday, Judge Carli Kierny denied a motion to dismiss Davis’ murder charges, refusing to be swayed by his attorney’s claim Davis received immunity protection in a prior interview. Kierny stated that the state of Nevada never offered him such a deal.

Minutes after this photo was taken, Tupac Shakur (shown driven by music mogul Suge Knight) was fatally shot. (Image: Corjuni)

Davis has publicly admitted to sitting in the front passenger seat of the white Cadillac from which shots were fired when it pulled up alongside the car in which Shakur was riding near the Las Vegas Strip on Sept. 7, 1996.

Shakur, 25, died from his injuries six days later. His friend and record label head, Marion “Suge” Knight, was injured during the attack but recovered.

Davis’ trial was scheduled to begin on March 17. Kierny scheduled a Feb. 11 hearing to re-affirm the date.

Last Man Standing

Davis is the only person ever charged in this case and the only suspect still alive.

His nephew, Orlando Anderson, was questioned about the murder but never charged. He died two years later in a gang-related shootout at a Compton, Calif., car wash. Two other men were suspected of riding in the white Cadillac from which Shakur was shot through the rear left window. Driver Terry Brown and Deandrae “Big Dre” Smith also died without being charged.

Brown was murdered at a Compton cannabis dispensary in 2015, and Smith died of complications from obesity in 2004.

Knight, 58, is currently serving 28 years in a California prison for an unrelated manslaughter conviction. He has refused to cooperate with Shakur’s murder investigation.