The man accused of killing rap legend Tupac Shakur in 1996 has made “credible threats to witnesses” against him and should not be granted bail until his trial next year, Las Vegas prosecutors say in a 180-page court filing.
Prosecutors said in the documents filed Thursday that they learned from jailhouse interviews that Duane “Keffe D” Davis “poses a danger to the community” and anyone he thinks might be planning to testify against him, ABC News reported.
Davis, who has pleaded not guilty, has been held without bail since his arrest in September, as CrimeOnline reported. His trial date is June 3, 2024. A hearing on bail is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Prosecutors say that while Davis did not pull the trigger to kill Shakur on September 7, 1996, he was in the car and was the “shot caller” for the rapper’s murder, according to ABC.
In the filing, prosecutors say they provided the public defender’s office, which is defending Davis, with a list of potential witnesses cooperating with them as well as known gang members. That list, they said, made its way to Davis himself and his son, from a member of the public defender’s staff not actually working on the case.
The list, they said, was “distributed for what can only be surmised as a means of dissuasion.”
In an October 9 phone call between Davis and his son, the prosecutors said, Davis’s son tell his father, “I got something to tell you about some s— that’s going on.”
“What?” Davis asks. His son, according to prosecutors, replies, “Around the city, they talking about it’s a green light on our side.”
“In [Davis’] world, a ‘green light’ is an authorization to kill,” prosecutors explain in their filing. “This caused enough concern that the Federal Government stepped in and provided resources to at least [one witness] so he could change his residence.”
Prosecutors also argued that Davis’s own words — seemingly admitting to his role in the murder — should also dissuade a judge from granting bail.
Davis “confessed over and over again that he is responsible for the murder of Tupac Shakur,” the filing says. “Now, finally, facing the consequences of his actions, [Davis] asks this Court to ignore his words. If one merely listens to [Davis’] words, coupled with the testimony elicited at the Grand Jury, the proof is evident and the presumption great that Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis orchestrated the murder of Tupac Shakur.”
Davis “recounted his involvement” in Shakur’s murder in his memoir, in interviews, and in documentaries, “gleefully claim(ing) responsibility for the murder of Shakur,” prosecutors said.
Davis’s attorneys have said that their clients multiple “confessions” were made for financial gain and “entertainment purposes” and are not serious. But prosecutors said that’s a disingenuous argument.
Davis “now claims that he is merely a prolific liar and not a murderer. The State submits that both can be true,” they said.
“Davis wanted the world to know what he did and what he was capable of. Now this Court knows, and accordingly, [Davis] must be held without bail.”
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[Featured image: FILE – Duane “Keffe D” Davis arrives in Clark County District Court, Nov. 7, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP, Pool, File and FILE – Rapper Tupac Shakur attends a voter registration event in South Central Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 1996. (AP Photo/Frank Wiese, File)]
