Keefe D’s 2019 Memoir Will Be a Central Piece of the Tupac Murder Trial

More than two decades after Tupac Shakur was killed, the case is now moving through a courtroom where Keefe D’s own words could become evidence against him. Prosecutors are expected to lean heavily on Compton Street Legend, the 2019 memoir tied to Duane “Keefe D” Davis, in the trial over the 1996 shooting that took Tupac’s life.

On Tuesday, Aug. 11, a new report from News Nation said the book will be a key part of the state’s case. The memoir includes Davis’s account of the night of the shooting, including his claim that Tupac reached for a weapon before gunfire came from the car he was riding in. Police have said no weapon was found in the vehicle carrying Tupac and Suge Knight.

That use of the book has already been challenged. Davis’s defense argued that the memoir should be kept out of trial, saying it was fictionalized for profit and raising questions about how much of it was actually his since it was co-authored. Davis has also said he doesn’t know what’s in the book because he never read it, insisting the co-author took his story and “ran with it.”

Judge Carli Kierny rejected that argument, ruling that the statements can be used because Davis had adopted the material as his own. She pointed to the way he repeatedly described the book as the “real truth.”

The memoir also recounts the altercation between Tupac and Orlando Anderson earlier that night, an incident prosecutors have identified as the spark for the killing. Davis has previously acknowledged he was in the car that pulled alongside Tupac and Suge at a Las Vegas intersection before the shooting. Tupac died six days later at 25.

The trial is underway now, with jury selection beginning Monday, Aug. 10. Davis appeared in court as Judge Kierny questioned a pool of 75 prospective jurors about possible conflicts, medical issues and language barriers that could affect their ability to serve. Outside the courthouse, Pac’s family members and fans gathered as the case moved forward.

The proceedings are expected to last about a month. If convicted, Davis faces life in prison.