A dispute about fact vs. fiction at the trial over Tupac Shakur’s 1996 killing in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A prosecutor said Monday that while few have been willing to speak concerning the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, Duane “Keffe D” Davis is the “one person who has a hard time being silent.”

“Let’s be clear, Duane Davis did not pull the trigger. But he did plan the shooting in retaliation of the beating of his nephew,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors at the start of Davis’ Las Vegas trial. “Remarkably, you will learn that from Duane Davis himself.”

Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he’s convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution’s narrative “fiction.”

Palal showed jurors video of Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson outside the boxing match at the MGM Grand hours before the shooting on Sept. 7, 1996.

Davis spent the next two hours planning how to get even, stated Palal, and Shakur was gunned down “in an act of revenge.”

Shakur remains a cultural icon and is considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time, despite dying at 25.