Tupac murder suspect ordered under house arrest pending trial

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man accused of killing Tupac Shakur in 1996, was ordered to await trial under house arrest, a judge ruled Tuesday. Davis will be ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device, the Associated Press References.

Bail was set at $750,000, and Davis' attorneys told the AP they expect him to post bail.

Before Tuesday's hearing, prosecutors had argued in court Dec. 28 that Davis' pretrial release could endanger witnesses, as a recorded jailhouse call between Davis and his son showed there was “ green light' against people the prosecution planned to call to the stand at trial.

“In [Davis’] world, a 'green light' is an authorization to kill,” prosecutors Marc DiGiacomo and Binu Palal said in court filings.

“This caused enough concern that the federal government stepped in and provided resources to at least [one witness] so he could change residence,” prosecutors wrote, calling the Oct. 9 jail call evidence of “credible threats to witnesses [that] demonstrate both a consciousness of guilt and that the defendant is a danger to the community.”

Robert Arroyo, one of Davis' court-appointed attorneys, denied the allegations about the phone call. “However, after our initial review of the phone call in question, we cannot see when [witnesses] reported,” Arroyo replied (via The Associated Press), “as much as he threatened”.

Davis' lawyers reiterated this in a court filing Monday, saying Davis “never threatened anyone during the phone calls” and asserted that “the prosecution's interpretation of the use of the 'green light' is completely wrong.” Instead, they argued that it was Davis and his family who faced potential danger.

“Duane's son was saying he heard there was a green light on Duane's family,” the affidavit said. “Duane obviously didn't know what his son was talking about.”

In addition, Arroyo asked the judge to consider the “obvious question” about Davis' alleged threat to witnesses and others: “If Duane is so dangerous and the evidence so overwhelming, why [police and prosecutors] Wait 15 years to arrest Duane for Tupac Shakur's murder?'

Arroyo and his attorney were asking for a $100,000 bond for Davis to remain under house arrest until trial, citing Davis' medical problems and that he was not receiving proper care behind bars. claim that Davis, 60, is in remission after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

Davis is scheduled to stand trial in Shakur's death on June 3, 2024. Davis was first arrested and charged with murder in late September 2023, almost exactly 27 years after Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting.

Police said that Davis was not the instigator of the murder, but that he was the leader of the group (“the shooter”) that carried out the murder. Davis is the only surviving suspect left in the case. Davis' nephew, Orlando Anderson, the suspected shooter in the case, died in a shootout two years after Sakur was killed. Two other suspects, Terry Brown and Deandrae Smith, also died before being charged.

Davis himself has said in multiple interviews that he was at the scene of the crime, saying on an episode of BET's Death Chronologically in 2018 that he knew who killed Shakur but would “keep it for the code of the road.” Davis also wrote about the assassination in his memoirs Compton Street Legend in 2019. In the book, Davis recalled Shakur reaching in the car for a gun, “and that's when the fireworks started,” Davis wrote. “One of my men from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started going back.”

Davis pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with a gang-enhanced weapon in November 2023. Prosecutors have since announced they will not seek the death penalty in Shakur's murder. Davis has remained behind bars without bail since his September 2023 arrest.