by Jeroslyn JoVonn
December 20, 2023
Keefe D is asking to be released from jail while he awaits trial in connection with the murder of Tupac Shakur.
Keefe D is asking to be released from jail while he awaits trial as the only person ever charged in connection with the murder of Tupac Shakur.
Lawyers for Duane “Keefe D” Davis filed a 33-page motion last week claiming the evidence used to implicate the former gang member is based on an “astounding amount of hearsay and speculative testimony” the grand jury was presented with in September, ABC News reported. The filing argues that prosecutors “did not introduce any independent evidence” connecting Davis to the crime, but instead relied on testimony from witnesses who had “questionable credibility” and “excerpts” from Davis’ memoir, which they claim could’ve been penned by his co-author.
Davis was arrested on Sept. 29 and has been held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas. His own words were used in the case against him in connection with the Sept. 7, 1996 drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur.
In Davis’ memoir and interviews over the years, he openly admitted to playing a key part in Tupac’s murder. Authorities described Davis as taking on a “shot caller” role in orchestrating Tupac’s death.
However, Davis’ lawyers now claim the interviews Keefe D gave detailing his role in the shooting were “never verified” for their “truthfulness,” and were only “done for entertainment purposes” and financial gain.
“It cannot be said that the proof is evident and the presumption great that Duane is guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Shakur,” Davis’ lawyers wrote.
While Shakur’s death in September 1996 is an “uncontested” fact, Davis’ “involvement in the shooting and the motivation for the shooting is less clear,” the filing states.
As for Davis’ book, his lawyers claim the details in the memoir “are fiction and dramatized to make the book more marketable,” and that even if the allegations are “assumed to be true,” there is “no evidence that [Davis] directed the shooting” and “no evidence or allegations that [he]was the shooter.”
Davis’ lawyers are requesting that he be allowed to await trial while on house arrest or be granted a “reasonable bail” of no more than $100,000. He is “not a threat to the community” nor a flight risk, his lawyers say, and suggested electronic monitoring, in the event the judge is concerned about Davis showing back up for his hearings. David has pleaded not guilty and his trial date is set for June 3, 2024.
