The family of late American rap legend Tupac Shakur has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Duane Keefe D Davis, the former gang leader currently facing murder charges for the 1996 killing of the artiste.
The lawsuit, filed in a Las Vegas court, seeks to hold Davis civilly liable for the drive-by shooting that claimed the rapper’s life nearly three decades ago.
This legal move follows Davis’s arrest in September 2023, after he made several public claims in interviews and his memoir regarding his involvement in the night of the shooting. While Davis has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case, the Shakur family is seeking damages for the loss of their relative.
Legal representatives for the estate stated that the lawsuit is a necessary step toward full accountability. They argue that Davis’s own admissions provide sufficient grounds to establish his role in the conspiracy that led to the rapper’s death in Las Vegas.
Davis is currently the only person ever to be charged in connection with the murder. The criminal trial is expected to begin later this year, but the family’s civil suit will proceed independently to seek financial compensation and a formal judicial declaration of his responsibility.
Tupac Shakur was 25 when he was shot multiple times on September 7, 1996, dying six days later.
