Tupac Shakur murder trial delayed until 2026

Attorneys for Duane “Keffe D” Davis claimed they needed more time to gather new evidence that could exonerate their client.

A Nevada judge has pushed the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man accused of killing Tupac Shakur, until 2026, ABC News reports. Attorneys for the former gang leader said during a hearing on Tuesday that they required a lengthy extension to gather and review new evidence in the case.

In their motion, Davis’s attorneys claimed that a statement from a private investigator would prove that the ex gang leader was not at the scene of the shooting in Nevada on September 7, 1996. That evening, Shakur was in a car being driven by Marion “Suge” Knight, the founder of Shakur’s then-label Death Row Records. After a stop at a red light, another vehicle pulled up alongside and opened fire. Shakur was rushed to the hospital and died six days later.

The defence claimed more time was needed to verify the investigator’s claims, and presiding Judge Carli Kierny agreed, pushing the trial till February 9, 2026. “It looks like there are quite a few things that are left to be done to get this case prepared so that Mr. Davis can have effective assistance of counsel,” Kierny said, according to Rolling Stone. “Given that, it appears as though I really don’t have much of a choice but to grant it.” Prosecutors did not push back on the judge’s decision.

Davis was arrested in September 2023 and charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty. Davis has written and spoken frequently about his role in Tupac’s death, including in interviews with VladTV and in his memoir Compton Street Legend. After his arrest, Davis said in court filings that his claims about the shooting were “done for entertainment purposes and to make money.”

In 2011, a retired LAPD police officer published excerpts of an interrogation where Davis admitted to his involvement and identified his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson as the shooter (Anderson was killed in a 1998 shooting). Police said in a 2023 press conference announcing they arrest that they do not believe Davis shot Shakur, but acted as the “shot caller,” and that Shakur’s shooting was the result of a confrontation between Anderson and Shakur in a casino.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Tupac Shakur murder trial