The defense attorney alleges that Tupac’s killer was a gang leader who lied to get money

The defense lawyer for a former gang member accused of killing hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur in 1996 in Las Vegas claims his client’s version of events is made up and that there is insufficient evidence for the prosecution to prove the murder case.

Carl Arnold, an attorney, told reporters outside a courtroom after briefly checking in with his client, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, before a Nevada judge. “He himself is giving different stories,” Arnold said. The date of his trial is set for November 4.

Regarding Davis’ police and media appearances since 2008, during which prosecutors claim he implicated himself in Shakur’s murder, Arnold remarked, “We haven’t seen more than just his word.” This includes Davis’s 2019 tell-all biography about his past as a street gang leader in Compton, California.

Regarding Arnold’s remarks, prosecutor Binu Palal refrained from commenting right away outside of court. According to Steve Wolfson, the district attorney for Clark County, there is substantial evidence against Davis, and a jury will determine whether or not Davis’s statements are credible.

According to Arnold, his client fabricated or blatantly lied about his role in the car-to-car gunfire that left rap music entrepreneur Marion “Suge” Knight injured and killed Tupac Shakur in September 1996 at a traffic light close to the Las Vegas Strip in order to profit from his story.

After an unconnected fatal shooting in the Los Angeles region in 2015, Knight, now 59, was sentenced to 28 years in jail in a California prison. Prosecutors did not call him to testify before the grand jury that indicted Davis the previous year.

Arnold stated that while he plans to invite Knight to testify, Davis will not testify during the trial. 

The defense lawyer said that neither the police nor the prosecution had any evidence that Davis was in Las Vegas when Shakur was killed, nor did they possess the automobile or weapons that were used in the crime.

We’ve watched videos of everyone else in this room. Where is his video? Davis said to Arnold. “There is simply no indication that he was present.”

Davis was arrested in September and is currently being held on  $750,000 bail. Davis has not been able to raise the 10% required to secure a bond and be released to house arrest, according to Arnold’s statement on Tuesday.

The 60-year-old Davis is a native of Compton. According to Davis, prosecutors, and law enforcement, he is the only survivor of the car from which the rounds were fired.

In November, Davis entered a not-guilty plea to first-degree murder. He might be imprisoned for the remainder of his life if found guilty.

In his book, Davis claimed that after informing Los Angeles authorities about the shooting deaths of rival rappers Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur six months later, he was guaranteed protection from punishment. Wallace went by Biggie Smalls, also known as The Notorious B.I.G.