The man charged in connection with Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder is seeking suppression of key evidence in the case. Duane “Keefe D” Davis was arrested in 2023 and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. In 2018, Davis made public claims that he was present in the Cadillac from which Tupac was shot. But his attorneys claim these statements were false.
In December 2025, Davis’ lawyers pushed for evidence to be suppressed in the ongoing case. They claimed the evidence was obtained in an “unlawful nighttime search” in 2023, per a report from The Hollywood Reporter.
Additionally, the lawyers argued that the judge granted a warrant for the nighttime search based on a “misleading portrait” of Davis. Nighttime search warrants are considered only in exceptional circumstances. These include the likelihood that a suspect would destroy evidence during a daytime search.
In Davis’ case, his lawyers argued that he was painted as an active and dangerous drug dealer in order to secure the warrant. According to reports, Davis hasn’t been involved in the narcotics trade since 2008.
Duane Davis, Man Charged in Murder of Tupac Shakur, Seeks To Suppress Evidence Obtained in Allegedly ‘Unlawful’ Search
Duane Davis’ lawyers rejected the misleading portrayal of Davis. They stated he was portrayed as still a drug-dealing gang leader. Instead, the motion offered evidence of his reformed life decades after Tupac Shakur’s murder. The motion argued that Davis is a 60-year-old cancer survivor, works as an inspector for oil refineries, and has lived with his wife in Henderson, Nevada, for nine years.
“The court wasn’t told any of this,” his lawyers claimed. “As a result, the court authorized a nighttime search based on a portrait of Davis that bore little resemblance to reality – a clearly erroneous factual determination, in other words.”
At the time of the search, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department collected Davis’ electronic devices, photographs, and “purported marijuana,” according to reports.
Despite being granted bail and house arrest in early 2024, Davis has been incarcerated at Clark County Detention Center. His trial was delayed from February 18, 2025, to February 9, 2026.
Davis Said He Was in the Car With Tupac’s Murderer, While His Lawyers Say This Is False
Davis previously made claims that he was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac with Tupac Shakur’s murderer. These claims aired during a 2018 broadcast of Unsolved on the USA Network. According to reports at the time, he said this to avoid prosecution. Although in their motion, his lawyers called Tupac’s murder “the entertainment world’s JFK assassination.” Because of its high profile, they claimed it’s not a reach that Davis “falsely [placed] himself at the center of it all for personal gain.” Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, was the prime suspect in Tupac’s murder until he was killed in 1998.
“People have been pursuing me for 20 years, I’m coming out now because I have cancer, and I have nothing else to lose. All I care about now is the truth,” said Davis in 2018, per a report from Billboard. However, despite claims he knows the true identity of Tupac’s killer, he has never revealed it, citing “street code.”
Photo by JOHN LOCHER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
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