2Pac’s murder suspect Keefe D has been given a confirmed trial start date of June 3, 2024.
Keefe D (real name Duane Davis) has pled not guilty to the murder of the rap legend, who was shot to death in Las Vegas in September 1996 following a Mike Tyson fight.
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Keefe D appeared in court on Tuesday (November 7) alongside his public defender attorneys, and will remain jailed until the trial next summer.
Keefe D’s attorneys, Charles Cano and Robert Arroyo, have stated that they intend to seek bail for their client ahead of trial, but declined to comment further on the case when asked outside court.
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Though Nevada is a capital punishment state, prosecutors will not be seeking the death penalty for Keefe D if convicted.
Keefe D, who is now 60 and claims to have been diagnosed with cancer, is the only person to ever be charged with the murder of 2Pac after he was arrested in September.
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Despite pleading not guilty, Keefe D has made a number of claims over the years to masterminding the shooting of 2Pac, including detailing the incident in his 2019 book Compton Street Legend.
Nevada prosecutors claim that ‘Pac was involved in a casino brawl with known Crips gang member Orlando Anderson — who is the nephew of Keefe D — on the night of the shooting.
Anderson is believed to have been in the car with Keefe D during the drive-by shooting, with some accounts IDing him as the gunman. He was killed himself in an unrelated gang shooting in 1998.
The shooting of 2Pac also wounded Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight, who is himself serving a prison sentence of 28 years for voluntary manslaughter.
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Knight has since commented on Keefe D’s arrested in an interview with TMZ from prison, stating that he won’t testify against the former gang member if called to the stand during the trial.
“Well, surprise, number one,” Knight said when asked for his reaction to Keefe’s arrest. “Because I don’t think Keefe D would ever get arrested, nor do I want to see him get arrested.
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“Let’s get one thing straight, first and foremost: me and Keefe D played on the same Pop Warner football team. And whatever circumstances — if he had an involvement with anything, if he didn’t have an involvement with anything, I wouldn’t wish somebody going to prison on my worst enemy.”
