The trial of a former gang leader accused of killing rapper Tupac Shakur has been pushed back by several months.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis had been due to stand trial in June after being arrested last year – some 27 years after the hip-hop star’s death.
He is said to be the only person still alive who was in the vehicle from which shots were fired in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 7 September 1996. Tupac died from his injuries six days later.
After a recent change in his legal representation, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny acknowledged at a hearing on Tuesday that his lawyer, Carl Arnold, is new to the case and that prosecutors are still providing evidentiary material to the defence.
The trial start date has now been reset from 3 June to 4 November.
Davis has been jailed on $750,000 (about £594,000) bail since his arrest in September. He expects to be able to raise the 10% needed to obtain a bond to be released to house arrest, Mr Arnold has said.
Davis told Judge Kierny that people who are willing to help him post bail do not want to appear in court for a “source hearing” to show that the money was legally obtained.
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“I’ve got family that is hesitant to come in here and help me out on the bail because of the media and the circus that’s going on,” he said.
The deaths of Tupac and Notorious BIG
Rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight was also injured in the shooting that killed Tupac.
Knight, now 58, is serving 28 years in a California prison for an unrelated fatal shooting in the Los Angeles area in 2015.
Six months after Tupac’s death, his East Coast rap rival Notorious BIG was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, and the mystery surrounding their unsolved murders has led to countless theories and headlines ever since.
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Davis, 60, was arrested outside his home in Henderson, Nevada, but is originally from Compton, California.
He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Shakur had five number one albums, was nominated for six Grammy Awards and was inducted posthumously into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. He also received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023.
