Judge Allows Duane “Keffe D” Davis’s Memoir as Evidence in Tupac Shakur Murder Trial

Clark County Judge Carli Kierny ruled that the 2019 memoir “Compton Street Legend,” co‑authored by Duane “Keffe D” Davis, may be admitted as evidence in the upcoming trial scheduled to begin on Aug. 10. The decision also permits statements Davis gave to Las Vegas police in 2008 and 2009 to be used.

Davis, 63, is charged with murder with a deadly weapon and gang‑related intent for allegedly ordering the 1996 drive‑by shooting that killed rap icon Tupac Shakur and injured Death Row Records founder Suge Knight. The case, long considered one of the United States' most notorious unsolved murders, was revived after Davis publicly discussed his involvement and detailed the incident in the book, leading to his arrest in September 2023. He has pleaded not guilty.

The defense argued the memoir was fictionalized for profit and that Davis had believed his police interviews were protected by a proffer agreement. Judge Kierny found the statements voluntarily made and adopted in the book, rejecting the defense’s motion to bar both the book and the interview excerpts.