Fader reported a Nevada judge has granted a delay in the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, pushing the trial date to February 9th, 2026. The move comes after Davis’s defense attorneys requested additional time to review new evidence that could potentially clear their client’s name.

During a hearing on Tuesday, Davis’s legal team argued that they needed more time to verify a statement from a private investigator, which they claim will prove that Davis was not at the scene of the shooting. According to the defense, the investigator’s findings could offer crucial information. On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot while riding in a car with Marion “Suge” Knight, founder of Death Row Records. After stopping at a red light, a vehicle pulled up alongside the car and opened fire. Shakur was hospitalized but died six days later from his injuries.

Judge Carli Kierny agreed with the defense’s request, acknowledging that there were still many elements left to address in the case. “It looks like there are quite a few things that are left to be done to get this case prepared so that Mr. Davis can have effective assistance of counsel,” Kierny said. “Given that, it appears as though I really don’t have much of a choice but to grant it.” Prosecutors did not contest the decision to delay the trial.

Davis was arrested in September 2023 and charged with first-degree murder, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Davis has long spoken about his alleged role in the murder of Tupac, discussing it in interviews and in his memoir, Compton Street Legend. However, following his arrest, Davis claimed that his statements regarding the shooting were made for entertainment purposes and to generate income.

A key piece of evidence came to light in 2011, when a retired LAPD officer released excerpts from an interrogation in which Davis confessed his involvement in the murder, naming his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, as the shooter. 

Anderson, who was killed in a separate shooting in 1998, has been widely suspected of being the shooter in Tupac’s death. In a 2023 press conference, law enforcement officials clarified that while they believe Davis did not pull the trigger, he acted as the “shot caller” behind the attack. According to police, the shooting was the result of a confrontation between Shakur and Anderson at a Las Vegas casino shortly before the murder.