In Las Vegas, the trial over Tupac Shakur's murder has begun. Prosecutors accuse former gang leader Duane "Keffe D" Davis of orchestrating the shooting. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
Witnesses took a Las Vegas jury back to the night Shakur was shot. Davis, 63, is charged with murder. Prosecutors allege he planned the killing but did not fire the gun. Davis has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors portray Davis as the ringleader and point to his memoir. "Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal. Davis's attorneys called the narrative "fiction".
The first witness was former police officer Garry Dale. He described riding in an ambulance with Shakur after the shooting. Shakur refused to say what happened, saying "We'll take care of it."
At the core of the case are East Coast vs West Coast rap rivalries and turf wars between Bloods and Crips gangs. Police say lack of cooperation led to dead ends.
Prosecutors note Davis gave statements between 1998 and 2003. They allege he planned the shooting after his nephew Orlando Anderson fought with Shakur.
Shakur was shot on 7 September 1996 after a Mike Tyson boxing match and died six days later. He was 25.
Davis published a memoir in 2019 describing the night. He claimed he was in the car and passed the gun to his nephew. Attorneys argue the book is fiction, but a judge allowed it as evidence.
The defence points to missing police reports and "biased, sloppy and incomplete" detective work. They say witnesses changed stories over time.
The trial is expected to last several weeks, with witnesses including experts and investigators.