The stepbrother of Tupac Shakur has decided that the criminal justice system's leisurely pace isn't cutting it, so he's filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the man currently awaiting trial for the rapper's 1996 murder. Maurice Shakur, in a legal filing, argues that the alleged killer and any still-anonymous co-conspirators need a formal invitation to the accountability party.
“Many individuals who were involved have long since passed away, while others have been hard to identify,” the suit notes, helpfully reminding us that death and poor record-keeping are not ideal for solving crimes. “Yet, one thing is certain: there remain individuals who were involved in Tupac’s murder who, for 30 years, have not been held accountable for their crimes.” The suit targets Duane “Keffe D” Davis and dozens of unnamed co-conspirators, seeking damages and a full confession of “the specific nature and extent of each individual’s involvement - and the identities of additional individuals.”
For those who missed the original incident: Shakur was shot just off the Las Vegas strip on 7 September 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand hotel. He was en route to an afterparty with a group that included Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight, when a white Cadillac pulled up next to their BMW at a red light and fired eight shots. Shakur was hit four times and died days later - a timeline that remains remarkably consistent despite decades of speculation.
The case went cold until 2023, when Nevada authorities arrested Davis, a former gang leader and one of the last surviving witnesses. He was indicted for allegedly orchestrating the drive-by shooting, and has pleaded not guilty - though his 2019 memoir described his involvement, which prosecutors claim included serving as the “on the ground, on-site commander of the effort to kill Tupac” after a fight with his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.
Afeni Shakur, the rapper’s mother, sued Anderson in 1997, but that case didn't go anywhere after Anderson was shot and killed in a separate incident in 1998. Now, Maurice Shakur argues that new information - including grand jury testimony and a recent Netflix documentary series on Sean Combs - has “revealed the existence of a broader, more complex conspiracy to murder Tupac.” Davis’s trial is set to begin in August, though his attorneys claim he made false public statements about being in the Cadillac and benefited from claiming to be present. Because nothing says “credible witness” like a guy who allegedly admitted to being the on-site commander.