A new documentary will chronicle the murder trial that ended with Duane “Keffe D” Davis being convicted in Tupac Shakur’s killing, pairing footage from the Las Vegas courtroom with never-before-seen material provided by the rapper’s family and inner circle.
The untitled feature, directed by Marian Mohamed, will follow the case from the first day of evidence through Davis’s guilty verdict and upcoming sentencing. Sky commissioned the project from Passion Pictures, Propagate Content and West Buttermilk, with plans to premiere it on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW in 2027.
The production followed members of Shakur’s family through the trial and secured previously unreleased personal footage and photographs from relatives and close confidants. His brother and longtime collaborator Mopreme Shakur is among those participating, along with members of the rapper’s inner circle.
Davis, 63, was found guilty Aug. 31 of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon following an 11-day trial in Clark County District Court. Jurors deliberated for about three hours before returning the verdict. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 13 and faces life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors did not accuse Davis of firing the shots that killed Shakur. Instead, they argued that he orchestrated the retaliation, obtained the gun and helped set the fatal attack in motion after Shakur and members of his entourage assaulted Davis’s nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand earlier that night.
Nevada law allows someone who aids, encourages or helps arrange a felony to be prosecuted as a principal even when that person does not personally carry out the crime. Prosecutors therefore did not have to prove Davis pulled the trigger. Their case centered on his alleged role in organizing and facilitating the shooting.
Davis’s own accounts of the killing became a major part of the prosecution’s evidence. Over the years, he discussed the shooting in police interviews, media appearances and his memoir, including accounts that placed him inside the white Cadillac from which the gunfire came. His attorneys argued that the statements were exaggerated or fabricated for publicity and challenged the lack of physical evidence directly tying him to the vehicle.
The documentary will place the courtroom proceedings alongside material from Shakur’s personal life, with filmmakers saying the family archive will offer a view of the rapper beyond the decades of speculation surrounding his death.
Mohamed said she wanted the film to give Shakur’s family a greater role in how the story of his murder is told and allow audiences to connect with who he was before his death. The production was filming alongside relatives as the trial unfolded, giving the project access to their experience of a prosecution that came three decades after the shooting.
Shakur was 25 when he was shot near the Las Vegas Strip on Sept. 7, 1996, while riding with Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. He died six days later. No one was charged in the killing until Davis was arrested in 2023.
His prosecution marked the first trial in the case and ultimately produced the only conviction in Shakur’s killing. The verdict came nearly 30 years after the rapper’s death and followed years in which Davis repeatedly spoke publicly about the shooting.
Davis maintained his innocence at trial and has said he plans to appeal the conviction. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 13, while the documentary is expected to premiere on Sky Documentaries and NOW in 2027.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis is maintaining his innocence days after being convicted of first-degree murder in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, challenging the memoir, interviews, and other statements prosecutors used to help secure the guilty verdict.Davis told The Hollywood Reporter that he had nothing to do with Shakur’s death... Read More »
A Las Vegas jury found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of first-degree murder Monday in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, making the former gang leader the first person convicted in the rapper’s death nearly 30 years after the fatal drive-by shooting.Jurors deliberated for less than three hours on Aug.... Read More »
Jurors began deliberating Monday in the murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis after prosecutors argued that his own words show he helped orchestrate the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur and that his later attempts to distance himself from those accounts are not credible.Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told... Read More »
Duane “Keffe D” Davis plans to appeal his conviction for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur after jurors returned a guilty verdict in less than three hours, with his attorney expected to challenge pretrial rulings that allowed prosecutors to use statements Davis made in 2008.Defense attorney Michael Sanft told NBC... Read More »
Defense attorneys for Duane “Keffe D” Davis rested their case Thursday after calling three retired Las Vegas police officers in less than two hours, using the brief presentation to challenge the investigation into Tupac Shakur’s 1996 killing and raise questions about whether another vehicle could have been connected to the... Read More »