Some Tupac Shakur family members step out of courtroom while others stay
to face autopsy photos
[August 19, 2026]
By JESSICA HILL
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Some members of Tupac Shakur's family stepped out of
the courtroom Tuesday before prosecutors showed photos from his autopsy
at the Las Vegas trial of the man charged in the killing of the rap
giant.
Others remained in the courtroom to face the grim facts of what happened
to his body.
The grisly photos came on the second day of testimony in the trial of
63-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is charged with orchestrating the
1996 drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He has pleaded not guilty and his
lawyer in opening statements called the prosecution's narrative
“fiction.”
Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark
County, Nevada, described Shakur's injuries and explained his cause of
death. Jurors were shown photos of his body. Some relatives who remained
in the courtroom looked away.
Tupac's family in the Las Vegas courtroom
Shakur’s cousin Zayd Akinyela said he wanted to stay in court to learn
more.
“I feel like the details, especially for people that are close to him,
honestly for me helps, helps the grief process. I think we’ve been
waiting 30 years to grieve properly,” Akinyela told The Associated Press
outside the courtroom. “A lot of people don’t get to grieve until they
understand what happened to their loved one and how it happened." He
added, “That’s why I wanted to stay and just see for my own personal
closure.”
He said he hadn’t known how many times his cousin was shot and can’t
help but think of the ways the night could have played out differently.
Seeing the photos of Shakur’s body made him feel “Very angry, very
angry, to say the least, very sad,” Akinyela said.
What the forensic pathologist said about the gunshots
Gavin described three bullets. One of them caused his lung to collapse
and bleed, and doctors ultimately removed the damaged lung in an effort
to save his life, she said.
Additional bullets damaged his intestines and other parts of his body,
she said.
Jurors looked intently at the photos of Shakur’s body, which was bloated
and had multiple chest wounds. The nearly full courtroom was silent.
Chest tubes were still in his body from the six days he spent in the
hospital before dying. .
Gavin was not at Shakur’s 1996 autopsy but was called as a witness
because the examiner who performed it has since died.
Surveillance video of a clash before the drive-by shooting
Prosecutors allege Shakur was killed to avenge Shakur’s entourage
attacking Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson a few hours earlier
at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson fight.
Jurors were shown the casino surveillance video of a group of people
beating and kicking someone on the ground.
The video then showed Shakur and his entourage moving quickly through
the crowded building in the minutes after.
A few hours later, Shakur, riding in a black BMW with hip-hop mogul
Marion “Suge” Knight, was gunned down by shots fired from a white
Cadillac that had Davis, Anderson and two other men inside. Davis is not
accused of pulling the trigger.
‘Hostile’ witness refuses to revisit the past
After many technical and procedural witnesses, James McDonald brought
both hostility and humor to the stand when he testified unwillingly
under a court order.
McDonald, like Knight, had been affiliated with the Mob Piru Bloods
gang, and worked security for Knight at his Club 662, where Shakur and
Knight had been headed when they were fired on. Davis was a member of
the rival South Side Compton Crips.
Asked by Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal if he was aware of
why Anderson was beaten, he wouldn't say.
“I’m aware of a lot of things,” McDonald said, “things that was going
on, people ain’t talked about them in 30 years. Today ain’t one of
them.”
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Duane "Keffe D" Davis in court for his murder trial related to the
1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, at Clark County District Court
Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP
Photo/John Locher, Pool)
 He said, “Me or anybody else
bringing up the dead is wrong," and “you'd better treat me as a
hostile witness.”
McDonald said he wanted to avoid answering questions that will hurt
Davis, even saying the questions Sanft asked were not in his
client's best interest.
He directly addressed the defendant. “What you’re going through,
brother, is what you’re going through," McDonald said, adding "I
didn’t want to be a part of it.” Davis had no visible reaction.
But McDonald also brought several moments of levity.
Asked if there were specific fights or disputes he could remember
regarding the gang rivalry, McDonald said, “Are you serious?!” and
laughter broke out in the courtroom.
After the testimony concluded, McDonald said prosecutors wanted him
to say that he saw Davis and others pull up to Club 662 that night
and why Anderson was beaten up at the MGM Grand.
“I'm not gonna send another Black man to prison,” McDonald told
reporters Tuesday evening.
Death Row security officer chronicles Bad Boy rivalry
Reggie Wright Jr., a former Compton police officer who owned a
security company that was contracted by Knight's Death Row Records,
detailed the way tension had grown between the label and Sean
“Diddy” Combs' Bad Boy Records leading up to the Shakur shooting.
He said he had doubled Shakur's security guards after he released
the video for “Hit ‘Em Up,” one of the most vicious diss tracks in
the history of hip-hop, aimed at Bad Boy's Notorious B.I.G., who was
killed six months later. The night Shakur was shot, however, he had
only one security guard.
Wright said Shakur was on his way to perform at a charity event at
Club 662. Shakur was on probation for California weapons and assault
convictions.
After the shooting, Wright went to University Medical Center where
Shakur was taken, and said a crowd was gathering there. He called
his father, who worked in the Compton Police Department’s gang
division, to tell him about the brawl and shooting, and warned him
that trouble could be coming there.
Wright testified that he received Shakur's ashes after he was
cremated, and saw that they got to Shakur's family.
Wright has long been among those rumored to be involved in Shakur's
killing.
Palal asked him if he had anything to do with it.
“Absolutely not," Wright replied.
Tupac's legacy and memory
Shakur remains a cultural icon. He is considered one of the most
influential and versatile rappers of all time and had a burgeoning
film career as an actor. He died as his popularity was peaking at
age 25, and his legend has only grown in the years since.
Akinyela, Shakur's cousin, said, “I’m very spiritual, so just seeing
the body doesn’t affect me the same way as it might some people. I
do believe that his spirit is still around and still lives on
through his family and through his legacy.”
____
Associated Press Writer Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho
and AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los
Angeles.
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