The Tupac murder case and gang leader on trial: what to know

It’s been three decades filled with mystery, conspiracies – and anger.

The drive-by shooting that killed rap superstar Tupac Shakur on 7 September 1996 changed the trajectory of hip-hop and elevated the rapper from the face of the genre to a cultural icon.

His killing became one of popular culture’s great mysteries, with countless theories but no arrests until 2023, when Duane “Keffe D” Davis was unexpectedly charged with murdering the famous rapper.

Davis, a 63-year-old former gang boss, is standing trial in Las Vegas.

He’s accused of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He’s pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

Opening statements began on Monday after a week of jury selection.

The trial is likely to unravel the intricacies of the bitter and deadly East Coast vs West Coast rap rivalries and turf wars between the Bloods and the Crips street gangs that were immortalised in rap lyrics and news reports in the 1990s.

It could also include several celebrity witnesses – including Suge Knight, the former CEO of Death Row Records, who has been thought of as the last surviving witness to Shakur’s death.

But the complicated case hinges almost exclusively on one key piece of evidence: a book co-authored by Davis that he has argued is partially a piece of fiction.

Here’s what you should know about the trial and the bitter rivalry tied to the rapper’s death.