Jurors deliberate in the trial of rap icon Tupac Shakur's killing

+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Jurors deliberate in the trial of rap icon Tupac Shakur's killing Jurors said Duane Davis is guilty of murder in orchestrating the killing of Tupac Shakur.

+ National Jurors deliberate in the trial of rap icon Tupac Shakur's killing August 31, 20265:27 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Steve Futterman Jurors deliberate in the trial of rap icon Tupac Shakur's killing Listen &middot; 4:09 4:09 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5948003/nx-s1-9908460" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Jurors said Duane Davis is guilty of murder in orchestrating the killing of Tupac Shakur.

+ Sponsor Message Transcript MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Jurors are deliberating in the Las Vegas trial of Duane Davis. Davis is the former gang leader accused of orchestrating the drive-by killing back in 1996 of rap icon Tupac Shakur. Steve Futterman has been covering the trial. He is on the line now from outside the courthouse. Hey, Steve.

+ STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise. KELLY: Bring us up to speed with what happened today in court, where I understand two very different viewpoints were presented to do with previous statements made by Duane Davis. FUTTERMAN: Yeah, that's right. The key evidence in this case has always been comments from Duane Davis in his memoir and in interviews with the media and police where he admits providing the gun used in the killing and being in the vehicle that drove up alongside Tupac Shakur. The prosecutor, Binu Palal, told jurors today this was a classic gang revenge killing, that Davis wanted payback after Shakur assaulted his nephew at the MGM Grand Hotel after a Mike Tyson fight. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BINU PALAL: And Duane Davis, in the culture of gangs, could not let that stand. And so what did he do? He acquired a firearm, got his group together and went hunting for Mr. Shakur. KELLY: Steve, back up. For people who have not been following this as closely as you, everything we just heard there was events that are alleged to have taken place in 1996. Why has it taken so long for somebody to face charges in this killing? FUTTERMAN: Well, the case was basically a cold case until 2019. That's when Davis wrote that memoir. He gave numerous details about what he did that night, how he was planning to pull the trigger. He actually said that he would have been the one to shoot Shakur except he was on the passenger side of the vehicle, and Shakur was next to the driver's side. Well, you can imagine what Vegas police thought after they found out about that. They restarted the investigation. Still, it took four years to bring the actual charges. The prosecution today played a number of segments of Davis telling police and interviewers that he was involved. Now, at the end of the prosecution's closing, jurors were told, believe him. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PALAL: For nearly 18 years, Duane Davis has told the police, television, books, YouTube interviewers, anybody that will listen he has told he is responsible for the murder of Tupac Shakur. Tell him you hear him. Find him guilty. KELLY: So how did the defense counter that deal with all these statements made by Davis? FUTTERMAN: Well, the defense argument all along has been, don't believe our client. And defense attorney Michael Sanft said Davis was exaggerating and embellishing. He accused law enforcement of believing everything Davis said without verification. At one point, he said Davis himself never saw or even read the memoir. Now, the attorney also challenged whether Davis was even in Las Vegas the night of the shooting. Why, he asked, isn't there anything, something showing Davis in town that night? (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) MICHAEL SANFT: How about paperwork, receipts? Things that would indicate that he had bought some stuff here in Las Vegas? How about phone records? How about photographs? These people, you know, when you go to a fight, you want to memorialize the moment with a photograph. What about something like that for Mr. Davis? FUTTERMAN: Now, the defense also suggested that law enforcement also ignored other possible theories. KELLY: All right. Well, so now this is all in the hands of the jury. Deliberations have begun. FUTTERMAN: That's right. Always hard to predict how that will go. Could take five minutes, five hours, five days. If Davis is found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. And in a strange coincidence, next Monday, September 7, marks the 30th anniversary of the shooting of Tupac Shakur. KELLY: Steve Futterman reporting from Las Vegas. Thank you, Steve. FUTTERMAN: Thanks, Mary, Louise. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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