Newly reported jail recordings could become part of the murder case against Duane “Keefe D” Davis, the man accused in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur.
Davis, who has denied killing the rapper, was arrested in September 2023 and charged with first-degree murder, making him the only person criminally charged in the decades-old case. Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by near the Las Vegas Strip nearly 30 years ago.
The New York Post reported that a Las Vegas source claimed Davis was recorded on multiple jail calls allegedly discussing his role in the shooting. Prosecutors reportedly believe the recordings amount to confessions and could be raised at Davis’ trial, which is set to begin Aug. 10 in Las Vegas.
Davis’ lawyer, Michael Sanft, pushed back on the importance of the alleged calls.
“And I’ve seen the state before, they’ll listen to the phone calls, but it’s sort of like, ‘Nah, we don’t care. We don’t need them,’” Sanft said, before noting that he disagrees with Davis’ past decision to write a book and speak publicly about the case… a lot!
“Do I agree with him writing the book and doing all these interviews? No,” he said. “Keefe knows that I’m in his corner.”
The trial may also arrive days after Suge Knight’s memoir, Your Pain is My Joy, is released on Aug. 4. Knight, who was with Shakur during the shooting and is now serving a 28-year sentence for a 2015 hit-and-run, has said the book will identify the shooter.
