Tupac Shakur murder suspect allegedly gave green light for murder of witnesses to keep them from testifying

Duane “Keefe D” Davis, the Crip member who has been charged with orchestrating the 1996 murder of iconic rapper Tupac Shakur, is being accused of attempting to orchestrate murder yet again, this time from behind bars while he awaits his June trial. According to court documents filed by the prosecutor’s office in Las Vegas on Thursday, Davis was discussing plans to potentially organize the assassination of witnesses who could testify against him during his trial next year.

Prosecutors said they sent the public defender's office a list of names as part of their pre-trial preparations, which included known gang members and witnesses who were cooperating with the DA's office. Because criminal defendants have the right to cross-examine witnesses who testify against them, that kind of revelation is common.

But in this case, prosecutors say that a member of the public defender's office who is not working on Davis' case gave the list to Davis. That person also either gave the list to Davis' son or Davis himself passed it on. The list was “distributed for what can only be surmised as a means of dissuasion," the prosecutors said.

Prosecutors claim that during a recorded jailhouse conversation between Davis and his son on October 9, the two talked about an authorization to kill which reportedly caused officials to become so worried about one of their witnesses' safety that they chose to move him as a means of witness protection.

"I got something to tell you about some sh*t that's going on," prosecutors quote Davis' son telling his father on the call.

"What?" Davis asked.

His son, according to prosecutors, replied, "Around the city, they talking about it's a green light on our side."

Prosecutors claim that “a green light on our side” meant the authorization to murder witnesses that could hurt Davis’ chances in court.

For this reason, among others, prosecutors claimed in Thursday’s court filings that Davis poses "credible threats" to witnesses and that Judge Carli Kierny should deny Davis' request to be freed on bond until his trial.

However, the court filing does not say that Davis has explicitly instructed anyone to harm anyone, nor that anyone associated with the case has been physically harmed. Davis’ legal team says that they are planning to respond in court on Tuesday.

Davis' hometown is Compton, California. After a search warrant was executed by Las Vegas police on July 17 at a suburban Henderson house, he was taken into custody on September 29. 

In their prosecution of Davis, the Clark County District Attorney's Office claims that the suspect was a notorious gang member in the 1990s and that he was the "shot caller" on the night that Shakur was shot and in the passenger seat of a stopped automobile on the Las Vegas Strip in 1996.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Jason Johansson alleged during a press conference that Davis, who police say is a member of the South Side Compton Crips gang, shot Shakur because of a fight that broke out between their two rival gangs shortly before the murder. The groups were leaving the Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand hotel on Sept. 13, 1996.

Davis is being held without bond at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, where inmate phone calls are often recorded. He entered a not guilty plea to a murder charge in November. Davis faces between 50 years to life in prison without parole or the death penalty if convicted.

The prosecution points to what they refer to as numerous "confessions" made by Davis since 2008, including those made in police interviews, his 2019 autobiography, and media appearances, stating that he planned the drive-by shooting in September 1996 at a traffic signal close to the Las Vegas Strip, which left iconic Tupac Shakur dead and rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight wounded.

Due to his involvement in the 2015 death of a Compton businessman, Knight, now 58, is incarcerated in California for 28 years.

The only surviving member of the group inside the car when the rounds were fired is Davis. He claims he received immunity in a 2008 deal with the FBI and Los Angeles police, who were looking into the murders of rival rappers Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smallz aka The Notorious B.I.G. in Los Angeles in March 1997 and Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas. 

Attorneys for Davis contend that his multiple public accounts gloating over the murder of Tupac Shakur were "created for financial gain and entertainment purposes.