The legal drama surrounding the murder of Tupac Shakur has officially reached a historic turning point. Nearly 30 years after the legendary rapper was gunned down in Las Vegas, the murder trial for Duane “Keffe D” Davis—who was arrested in 2023 for orchestrating the attack—began with jury selection this past Monday, August 10.
While the trial is finally moving forward, one key figure is staying far away from the courtroom. Suge Knight, the Death Row Records cofounder who was driving the car the night of the shooting, remains the only living witness to the tragedy. Despite being in the passenger seat when bullets tore through the vehicle on September 7, 1996, Knight has made it clear he has no intention of cooperating.
“I don’t get paid to solve homicides,” the 61-year-old told ABC News.
Knight didn’t stop there, explaining his refusal to participate in the proceedings: “They make me come there against my will. If Keffe D’s lawyers bring me there, it don’t look good for him. If the prosecution brings me there, it don’t look good for them. Leave me out of it … You have people who wasn’t there, wasn’t in the car, but they’re telling the story.”
Even three decades later, the loss of his friend is clearly still weighing on him. Knight asserted, “There’s not a day that goes by that [I], personally, [don’t] think about 2Pac, or I miss 2Pac. That’s my brother.”
However, Knight maintained that he refuses to be the reason someone else is locked away, stating that taking the stand would be worse than “shooting” a man in the head because “if you snitch on that person, they die a million times.”
“I am not going to be responsible for sending another man to prison for the rest of his life,” he added. “If God’s forgiving, who am I to think I’m bigger than God and don’t forgive? Because I’m not.”
Knight is currently serving a 28-year sentence in California for a 2015 fatal hit-and-run. Meanwhile, prosecutors are moving forward with their case against Davis, alleging that while he may not have been the one to pull the trigger, he was the mastermind behind the 1996 drive-by that claimed Tupac’s life just six days after the shooting.