Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was gunned down on the Las Vegas Strip, one of hip-hop's biggest mysteries is finally heading into a courtroom - and some very famous names are once again hovering around the case.
Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 63, is on trial in Las Vegas, charged with murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in connection with Shakur's 1996 death. Davis has pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection began Monday in Clark County District Court, with Judge Carli Kierny presiding. The trial is expected to last roughly a month and could feature testimony from dozens of witnesses as prosecutors attempt to prove that Davis helped orchestrate the events that ended with one of rap music's most influential stars dead at just 25.
But don't expect the trial necessarily to solve the question fans have debated for decades: Who actually pulled the trigger?
Prosecutors are not alleging that Davis personally fired the shots. Instead, they contend that he helped arrange the attack and supplied the gun used in the shooting.
Shakur was riding in a black BMW driven by Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge" Knight on Sept. 7, 1996, when a white Cadillac pulled alongside them and gunfire erupted. Shakur was struck multiple times and died six days later. Knight survived.
The investigation went cold for years before Davis' public interviews and his memoir, Compton Street Legends, helped bring renewed attention to the case. Davis was ultimately arrested in 2023.
And now things could get especially interesting.
Knight remains the only other living eyewitness who was inside either of the two vehicles involved that night. He is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence in California and has previously said he would not testify. However, Davis' defense attorney Michael Sanft has suggested Knight could actually be a helpful witness for the defense if he did take the stand.
Then there's Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Davis alleged in his memoir that Combs wanted Shakur and Knight dead and offered money for their killings. Combs has long denied any involvement in Shakur's shooting, and AP reports that his name does not appear on the witness list. A spokesperson for Combs also did not respond to AP's request asking whether he planned to testify.
Combs is currently serving a four-year federal prison sentence in New Jersey following his conviction on prostitution-related charges.
Prosecutors are expected to call between 35 and 45 witnesses, including people who were around Shakur during his final hours, former law enforcement officers, gang experts and figures connected to the Death Row Records world.
Among those expected to testify is Leonard Jefferson, who famously took what became the last known photograph of Shakur before the shooting. Denvonta Lee, who was affiliated with the South Side Compton Crips, is also expected to appear.
Lee previously gave grand jury testimony offering another potentially explosive version of what happened inside the Cadillac. According to AP, Lee testified that Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson - Davis' nephew and the man long suspected of being the shooter - did not have a clear shot. Lee claimed Deandrae "Freaky" Smith instead took the gun and opened fire. Both Anderson and Smith have since died.
Davis' defense is expected to call far fewer witnesses, including an expert on false confessions and coercive interrogation techniques.
For Tupac's family, however, the case is about something much bigger than the celebrity names, decades of theories and enduring hip-hop mythology.
Shakur's cousin Kendrick Lesane was outside the Las Vegas courthouse as proceedings began and said he wanted everyone responsible for the killing held accountable, describing Tupac as "an icon, a legend, and a great human being."
Three decades after those shots rang out in Las Vegas, the world may finally hear a jury decide whether prosecutors have proved who helped set Tupac Shakur's murder in motion.
And with Suge Knight still alive, Diddy's name continuing to surface around decades-old allegations, and witnesses preparing to revisit one of hip-hop's darkest nights, this could become one of the most closely watched music-related trials in years.
