Tupac Shakur Murder Trial Begins Nearly 30 Years Later

Shakur was 25 when he was shot on Sept. 7, 1996, while riding in a BMW with Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match in Las Vegas. Prosecutors allege Davis helped arrange the attack after an earlier confrontation involving his nephew, Orlando Anderson, and Shakur’s associates. Four men were believed to have been inside the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired, but the other suspected participants are now dead. Shakur died six days later from his injuries, leaving the case unresolved for decades.

Davis, now 63, has pleaded not guilty and is not accused of being the gunman. Prosecutors allege that he helped organize the attack and provided the weapon, relying in part on statements Davis made publicly and details contained in his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” His defense has challenged those accounts and is expected to argue that they were exaggerated or unreliable. Davis was indicted in 2023 after Las Vegas police revived the investigation, making him the first person formally prosecuted in Shakur’s killing.