By Rio Yamat and John Antczak
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — The man charged with murder in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur had little to say when he was arrested near his home outside Las Vegas. But Duane “Keffe D” Davis knew the gravity of it, according to police body camera footage released Friday.
“So what they got you for, man?” an officer out of the frame later asks Davis, 60, while they’re sitting in a police car parked outside the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s headquarters.
“Biggest case in Las Vegas history,” Davis, who is handcuffed, replied and recounted the date that Shakur was gunned down — “September 7th, 1996.”
Police and prosecutors allege Davis was the mastermind behind the drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip. Shakur was shot multiple times and died a week later. He was 25.
“I ain’t worried about … I ain’t did (expletive),” Davis told the officer as his voice trails off.
The four videos released Friday, totaling more than an hour of footage, show Davis arrested on Sept. 29 while on a walk in his otherwise quiet neighborhood. The videos also show police driving Davis to their headquarters and placing him in an interview room — and, later, the short drive to the county jail, where he’s being held on bond.
Davis had been a long-known suspect in the case, and publicly admitted his role in the killing in interviews ahead of his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” In mid-July, police raided Davis’ home, renewing interest in hip-hop’s most enduring mystery.
The self-described gangster hasn’t yet entered a plea in the case, and he denied a request from The Associated Press for an interview from the jail. His longtime lawyer in Los Angeles, Edi Faal, told AP he has no comment on Davis’ behalf.
According to the videos, officers approached Davis at dawn, calling out to him from across the street.
“Hey, Keffe, Metro Police,” an officer said. “Come over here.”
Davis, holding a water bottle, cooperated as he was patted down and handcuffed next to an unmarked police vehicle. Much of the conversation with police initially focused on Davis’ request for water.
But later, Davis told an officer that he had moved to Las Vegas in January because his wife was working to open up Sprouts grocery stores in the area. The audio is redacted when the officer asks Davis what he has been doing since the move.
In the footage, Davis recalled the July 17 raid on his home and peeking over a gate at the same time as a SWAT officer — and said his arrest Friday was much more low-key.
As they drove on the freeway en route to police headquarters, Davis does not appear in the video but asks the officer if he was followed the previous night. The officer says no.
“So why you all didn’t bring the media?” Davis said.
The officer asked why police would bring the media, and Davis replied “That’s what you all do.”
In an indictment unsealed last Friday in Clark County District Court, Davis is accused of orchestrating the killing of Shakur and providing his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, with the gun to do it. Anderson, who denied involvement in Shakur’s killing, died in 1998.
Davis’ first court appearance this week was cut short when he asked the judge for a postponement while he retains counsel in Las Vegas. He’s due in court again Oct. 19.
Antczak reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed.
