In a 2008 police interview recording, Duane (Keffe D) Davis revealed to detectives that his nephew, Orlando (Baby Lane) Anderson, was the one who fired the fatal shots that killed rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996. Davis, who claimed to be present in the car with Anderson during the incident, is currently facing accusations of orchestrating the murder of the 25-year-old hip-hop artist in Las Vegas.

During the interview with Los Angeles police, Davis recounted that he and Anderson, along with two other individuals, were in a white Cadillac that pulled up next to a vehicle carrying Shakur and Marion (Suge) Knight, the head of Death Row Records. Davis stated that he was prepared to shoot but couldn’t due to the positioning of Knight’s car, so he passed the gun to Deandre “Big Dre” Smith, who declined. Subsequently, Anderson, seated in the back, took the weapon and opened fire, as Davis narrated in the audio played for the jurors.

This marked the first instance of Davis openly discussing his role in the shooting with law enforcement. The interview serves as crucial evidence in the state’s case against the 63-year-old defendant. Prosecutors emphasized their reliance on Davis’s admissions during police interviews, podcasts, and his co-authored memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” to build their arguments.

Davis, who pleaded not guilty, has been defended by his lawyer, who dismissed the prosecution’s claims as fictitious. The attorney criticized Davis’s statements as unreliable and lacking substantiating evidence. Notably, Davis was initially considered a suspect in the 1997 killing of Shakur’s rival, the Notorious B.I.G., before being ruled out.

Prosecutors contested the confidentiality of Davis’s statements, arguing that his subsequent public disclosures nullified any protection he received during the initial interviews. They alleged that Shakur’s murder was a retaliatory act following an altercation between Shakur’s entourage and Anderson earlier at the MGM Grand, where Davis was present. Despite the passage of time, Shakur’s legacy as a cultural icon and influential rapper endures, with his popularity and impact continuing to resonate even after his untimely demise.