American music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has again surfaced in proceedings surrounding the nearly 30-year-old murder of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur, as prosecutors commenced their case against former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis in Las Vegas.
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Combs’ name was mentioned by prosecutors during jury selection as prospective jurors were questioned about whether they were familiar with individuals connected to the case.
Contrary to some reports describing Combs as a potential prosecution witness, he is not listed among the witnesses expected to testify at the trial.
The renewed attention on the Bad Boy Records founder stems principally from longstanding allegations made by Davis, who has claimed that Combs once offered money for the killing of Shakur and former Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight.
Combs has consistently denied any involvement in Shakur’s death and has never been charged in connection with the killing.
Davis, 63, is standing trial in Clark County, Nevada, on a charge of murder with the use of a deadly weapon in furtherance of gang activity.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors do not allege that Davis personally fired the shots that killed Shakur.
Rather, their case is that Davis, who was a leader of the South Side Compton Crips, orchestrated the September 1996 attack, obtained the firearm used and directed members of his group in carrying out the shooting.
Opening statements began on Monday, August 17, following the completion of jury selection.
Prosecutors told jurors that the killing arose from a confrontation at the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas shortly before Shakur was shot.
Shakur and members of his entourage had been involved in a fight with Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Davis’ nephew and a member of the South Side Compton Crips.
The prosecution alleges that Davis subsequently organised a revenge attack.
Later that night, Shakur was travelling in a BMW driven by Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside their vehicle near the Las Vegas Strip and gunfire erupted.
Shakur was struck four times and died six days later, on September 13, 1996. He was 25.
Knight survived the attack.
Davis was one of four men allegedly inside the Cadillac.
The other three — Anderson, DeAndre “Freaky” Smith and Terrence “T-Brown” Brown — have since died.
Although law enforcement authorities historically suspected Anderson of firing the fatal shots, prosecutors do not need to establish that Davis personally pulled the trigger to pursue their theory that he was criminally responsible for orchestrating the attack.
A major part of the prosecution’s case is expected to rely on Davis’ own statements over the years.
Davis discussed the Shakur killing in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, in which he described events surrounding the shooting and acknowledged being inside the Cadillac.
Prosecutors contend that those statements amount to powerful evidence of his involvement.
His defence, however, argues that Davis exaggerated or fabricated aspects of the story for publicity and commercial benefit and that prosecutors lack physical evidence directly proving their case.
The trial has also revived scrutiny of the bitter East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry of the 1990s involving Knight’s Death Row Records and Combs’ Bad Boy Records.
Davis previously alleged that Combs wanted Shakur and Knight killed and offered $1 million for the job.
The prosecution has referred to Davis’ statements regarding Combs as part of the wider history surrounding the case, but Combs is not a defendant and prosecutors have not charged him with participating in Shakur’s murder.
Combs has long rejected allegations linking him to the killing.
During jury selection, prosecutors included Combs among names connected with the history of the case when asking prospective jurors about their familiarity with individuals who could arise during proceedings.
Suge Knight, by contrast, is among potential witnesses and remains one of the only surviving eyewitnesses who was inside either of the two vehicles involved in the shooting.
Knight, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence in California in an unrelated case, has previously indicated that he does not want to testify.
The prosecution is expected to call dozens of witnesses during a trial projected to last several weeks.
Davis remains the only person ever criminally charged over Shakur’s killing.
If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of life imprisonment.
The trial represents the first time a defendant has faced a jury over the September 1996 killing, one of the most closely followed unsolved cases in American music history.
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