Nevada judge refuses to release former gang leader ahead of trial in 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A sick former Los Angeles-area gang leader has been denied release from a Las Vegas jail ahead of his trial in the 1996 killing of music legend Tupac Shakur, despite a request for insurance to cover the prices of the hip-hop music personality’s $750,000 bail.

A Nevada judge denied a request for home confinement with electronic monitoring for 61-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis, saying she was unsatisfied with assurances that Davis and his potential benefactor — Cash “Wack 100” Jones — had no plans to cash in on the sale of Davis’s life story.

Nevada law prohibits convicted murderers from making the most of their crime.

Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny said in a ruling Wednesday that a review of Jones’ financial records also didn’t allay her concerns that Jones could also be “a front or a middleman for the real entity issuing the bonds.”

Davis is looking for release because shortly after his arrest last September, he became the one person charged in a killing that has attracted enormous interest and speculation for 27 years.

Prosecutors say the Las Vegas shooting that killed Shakur was the result of a rivalry between members of the Bloods gang on the East Coast and groups of the Crips on the West Coast, including Davis, for dominance in a musical genre then often known as “gangsta rap.”

Davis has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 4. If convicted, he could spend the remainder of his life in prison.

After a 45-minute hearing Tuesday, Kierny said she had more questions than answers after Davis’ legal team tried to show the source of the funds.

Featured Stories

Prosecutors argued that Davis intended to cash in on telling his story of Shakur’s murder and played a recording of a jailhouse phone call in which Jones describes to Davis a plan to produce “30 to 40 episodes” of a series based on his life story.

“This is an illegal benefit derived from this crime,” prosecutor Binu Palal told the judge. Palal didn’t respond Wednesday to an email looking for comment on the judge’s decision.

Jones, a record executive who has managed hip-hop artists including Johnathan “Blueface” Porter and Jayceon “The Game” Taylor, gave his sworn testimony Tuesday via video from an unspecified location in California.

He said he paid 15% of the bail amount, or $112,500, as a “gift” from his business accounts to secure Davis’ release.

Davis’s attorney, Carl Arnold, didn’t respond to emails or phone calls left at his office Wednesday looking for comment. A spokesman for Arnold didn’t immediately comment when reached by email.

The judge said in Wednesday’s two-page order that she was not convinced the bond was not paid “from profits derived from Mr. Davis’s conversations regarding the murder of the victim in this case.”

Although Jones testified that he bailed Davis out because he was battling cancer and “was a pillar of the community,” earlier interviews “suggested a different motive,” Kierney wrote.

She said Jones indicated there have been “provisions” regarding bail and “that Mr. Davis would sign a contract for the rights to his life story, allegedly involving the shooting of Mr. Shakur,” which she said was supported by a recorded jailhouse phone conversation, when Jones “insisted that the contract be signed before he paid his bail premium.”