Duane Davis, suspect in Tupac Shakur slaying, indicted on new charge

A grand jury has indicted on a battery charge the man accused of ordering the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed hip hop star Tupac Shakur.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 61, who is charged in connection with the 1996 slaying near the Las Vegas Strip, was indicted Friday on charges of battery by a prisoner and challenging someone to a fight for a Dec. 23 altercation at the Clark County Detention Center.

The other man accused in the fight, Rochlon Hamilton, was indicted on the same charges. Both are accused of striking the other. Chief District Judge Jerry Wiese set bail at $50,000 for each man.

Davis, who remains in jail, was scheduled to appear in District Court and Las Vegas Justice Court Tuesday morning, but he did not show up in either courtroom.

District Judge Carli Kierny was supposed to hold a hearing to check on his readiness to go to trial in the murder case. She asked defense attorney Carl Arnold if he wanted to waive Davis’ presence.

“No, he’ll probably want to be here, Your Honor,” Arnold replied.

Kierny continued the hearing for a week.

Arnold then appeared on Davis’ behalf in Justice Court, where Davis’ Justice Court battery case was dismissed in a 20-second hearing. That dismissal was a formality, since Davis has been indicted — a step that moves a case to District Court.

Correctional officer Ari Keim told grand jurors that on the morning of the altercation, he was escorting inmates to see their attorneys and then go back to their units at the jail, according to grand jury transcripts in the battery case.

He was leading Davis back to the “male intensive protective custody unit,” a unit designed for high-profile defendants and those with gang affiliations, he said.

Keim said he noticed Hamilton in the unit’s common room without an officer present, which was unusual. Hamilton “just says, ‘What’s up?’ and then Davis responds back with ‘What’s up?’ and then that’s when they started fighting,” Keim told grand jurors.

Keim radioed for help and sprayed the men with oleo capsicum spray, which is like pepper spray, to try to get them to stop fighting, he said.

They continued tussling, even as he ordered them to stop, he said, and when staff physically separated them, they attempted to resume the fight.

According to a Metropolitan Police Department report, Davis said he was “just standing his ground,” and then invoked his right to an attorney.

Davis is scheduled to appear for an arraignment on the battery charge Thursday.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.