The man accused of murder in the gang-feud slaying of musician Tupac Shakur a quarter-century ago appeared in a US court on Thursday.
Duane “Keefe D” Davis, 60, was charged last month with the murder despite not being the person who fired the gun in Las Vegas in 1996.
After the original hearing was postponed, Thursday’s session was scheduled to be an arraignment.
However, defense attorney Ross Goodman requested that the case be rescheduled, claiming that while he was present to represent Davis, he had not been properly employed.
“I’m going to give you two weeks, but in two weeks we’ve got to get this case moving,” District Judge Tierra Jones told him.
Davis is anticipated to enter a plea to the charge of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further, or aid a criminal gang at his arraignment.
Davis has long admitted his role in the assassination, claiming that he was the “on-site commander” in the plot to assassinate Shakur and Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight in retaliation for an assault on his nephew.
Anyone who aids or abets a murder can be prosecuted with the crime, much as a getaway driver can be charged with bank robbery even if he never entered the bank.
Shakur, the best-selling hip-hop musician behind hits like “California Love,” “Changes,” and “Dear Mama,” was a significant celebrity in the rap industry until he was assassinated on September 7, 1996. He was only 25 years old.
He was signed to Death Row Records, which was affiliated with the Los Angeles street gang Mob Piru at the time, which had a long-standing feud with the South Side Compton Crips, of which Davis was a significant figure.
Prosecutors stated last month that what transpired on the night of the death had been known for many years, but they did not have enough acceptable evidence to move the case forward.
That began to change when Davis, who was reputedly the only person in the car that night who survived, published an autobiography and appeared on a TV show to discuss the murder.