A Las Vegas judge has rejected Duane “Keefe D” Davis’ attempt to overturn key evidence in Tupac Shakur’s murder case.
Clark County District Court Judge Carly Kilney denied the motion Tuesday. Davis wants police to throw away evidence they seized during a nighttime raid on his home in Henderson in July 2023.
The 62-year-old former Crip faces murder charges for masterminding a drive-by shooting that attacked Tupac’s Las Vegas home after midnight in 1996.
“When officers obtained a nighttime warrant through bad faith, the court found that suppression was appropriate,” the motion states. “The dishonesty was evident from the affidavit in support of the search warrant.”
Drakovich said police made it sound like Davis was a threat. They pointed to his drug convictions dating back 25 years. They also brought up an armed arrest eight years ago that was never charged.
The defense painted a different picture. Davis is a retired grandfather and cancer survivor who lives quietly with his wife. After leaving the drug industry in 2008, he worked as a refinery inspector for ten years.
“The images provided to obtain the search warrant bore little resemblance to reality,” his attorney argued.
Detective Clifford Mogg wrote in the search warrant that the darkness would help police safely surround the house. He said the cover of night would have allowed police to evacuate neighbors with less risk if Davis tried to barricade himself inside.
Davis’ team calls this reasoning backwards. They say neighbors are more likely to be home at night, making searches more dangerous.
The raid resulted in the seizure of laptops, tablets, USB drives, cannabis and a copy of Vibe magazine about Shakur. Police also seized Davis’ 2019 book “The Compton Street Chronicles,” which detailed his role in the murders.
Davis was targeted after years of publicly acknowledging Tupac’s murder. In his memoir, he details the shooting that resulted in the rap legend’s death on September 7, 1996.
“I know the real story,” he writes in the book. The former South Side Compton Crips shooter admitted he was in the white Cadillac when someone fired the fatal shot.
Davis had previously told police in interviews in 2008 and 2009 that he planned the attack. He claims his nephew Orlando “Baby Ryan” Anderson pulled the trigger after Tupac and associates from Death Row Records attacked Anderson at the MGM Grand earlier that night.
The murder remained quiet for decades until Davis began speaking out. His confessions in interviews, documentaries and books gave prosecutors the evidence they needed to bring charges in September 2023.
Davis has repeatedly claimed that Sean “Diddy” Combs put a bounty on Tupac and Suge Knight’s heads. In an FBI interview, he claimed that Puff Diddy offered $1 million for the hit film through middleman Eric “Vonzip” Martin.
He said Vonzip was supposed to deliver the money after Tupac was killed, but he kept the money instead of paying the Crips men who carried out the attack. Diddy denies having anything to do with Tupac’s murder.
Davis’ defense team insists his confession was purely for show. They compared the public attention on Tupac’s death to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, arguing that someone could mistakenly put themselves at the center for personal gain.
The loss of evidence suppression dealt a major blow to Davis’ defense strategy. His lawyers had hoped to exclude items seized from his home, including his books and electronic devices that could contain incriminating information.
Without this crucial evidence being thrown out, prosecutors could use Davis’ own words against him at trial. His memoirs and taped interviews form the backbone of the state’s case.
Davis remains being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. He was also sentenced to 16 to 40 months in prison last spring for beating another inmate during a prison brawl.
The murder trial is scheduled for August 10, 2026.
