Tupac Shakur murder trial postponed to 2026
Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in 1996, but the murder case involving suspect Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis is set to drag on even longer after a judge delayed the trial until next year.
On February 18th, the trial was postponed from March 2025 to February 9th, 2026, after the defence team asked for more time to interview witnesses. Davis has been accused of masterminding Tupac’s murder, providing the gun that also wounded Suge Knight, who was driving the ‘Hit Em Up’ rapper down the Las Vegas Strip.
Officers claim the shooting was a response to Tupac getting into an altercation with Orlando Anderson following a Mike Tyson fight on September 6th, 1996. According to Davis’ attorneys, they believe they can prove he wasn’t present at the time of the drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
“It looks like there are quite a few things that are left to be done to get this case prepared so that Mr. Davis can have effective assistance of counsel,” Judge Carli Kierny said during a brief hearing. “Given that, it appears as though I really don’t have much of a choice but to grant it.”
The defence team filed a motion to postpone the trial on February 14th after being pushed back twice. “This case involves decades-old allegations, and with every new piece of evidence, it becomes increasingly clear that critical facts have yet to be fully examined,” his lawyer, Carl Arnold, said.
Davis was arrested in September 2023 and pled not guilty to first-degree murder charges for the alleged killing of Tupac. His attorneys claim that a private investigator’s new testimony could provide evidence supporting his not-guilty plea. This comes despite Davis implicating himself in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend.
Arnold told ABC News, “We are actively conducting further investigations, speaking with key witnesses, and ensuring that Mr. Davis receives the fair trial to which he is constitutionally entitled. Given the magnitude of this case, it is imperative that we have adequate time to present a comprehensive defence.”
Although the substance of the allegations is unclear, arguments are set to occur during a hearing on February 25th, 2025.
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