Sean “Diddy” Combs could face charges linked to the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur following a new trial, legal sources have suggested.
Three decades after Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at the height of his fame in 1996, Duane “Keffe D” Davis is on trial for allegedly plotting the killing as part of an escalating war between two LA gangs.
The prosecution’s case hinges on Davis’ own claims to police, in documentary interviews and a memoir, that he sought out Shakur after his nephew was targeted as part of a rival gang feud.
They also allege that he was in the white Cadillac from which the fatal bullet was fired, and that he “tossed” the gun to the rapper’s killer.
During a secret recording made by police in 2008, Davis apparently described how he and other members of the South Side Compton Crips gang hunted down and shot Shakur in 1996.
In that secret recording – which has been entered into evidence in his trial – Davis also apparently alleged that Combs, currently serving a 50-month jail sentence for federal prostitution charges, offered him US$1m ($1.69m) to kill Shakur.
If prosecutors manage to convict Davis, “it gives a green light to take action against Diddy”, a source close to the district attorney’s office told The Telegraph. Davis is insisting the claims he made were to gain fame and notoriety – and are not true.
Prosecutors allege that Shakur was killed in retaliation for the rapper and his entourage beating up Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, earlier that night, and that Davis’ bragging about his involvement in the killing of the rapper is true.
Combs has previously described the allegations as “pure fiction and completely ridiculous”.
The long-running feud between Combs and Shakur in the 90s largely stems from an armed robbery in which Shakur was shot. He believed he had been set up by Combs and his associates.
If a jury believes that Davis was telling the truth about his role in the killing, his conviction could add credence to his claims about Combs’ involvement and apparent offer.
A Clark County district attorney’s office source said: “The door remains open on what charges could be made against Diddy. But if the jury convicts Davis, then it gives a green light to take action against Diddy.
“The strategy has remained to not bring in matters relating to Combs’ alleged role in all of these matters at this stage, because it would likely confuse the case and perhaps a jury.”
Michael Sanft, Davis’ defence attorney, argued during his opening statement on Monday that the reason his client wasn’t charged earlier over his admissions was that investigators knew “he was full of crap”.
At one point, he pulled up a slide which read “Bulls***” and said: “Keffe D was known to do [exaggerate].”
Steve Wolfson, the district attorney, has not commented publicly on whether prosecutors would pursue charges against Combs following Davis’ trial. Police have not indicated that he is a suspect in the killing and he denies any involvement.
While Combs is not expected to appear as a witness at the trial, his presence will still be felt in the courtroom.
Binu Palal, Clark County’s chief deputy district attorney, mentioned him during his opening statement on Monday, saying the hip-hop mogul hired Davis for protection during visits to the West Coast. The question of whether Combs offered Davis money to kill Shakur was not raised.
At the time, Combs ran the New York-based Bad Boy Records and was a fierce competitor of Suge Knight, the record executive, and his LA-based Death Row Records, which represented Shakur.
The drive-by shootings of Shakur and, six months later, Bad Boy’s Christopher Wallace – known as Notorious BIG or Biggie Smalls – marked the peak of the West Coast-East Coast hip-hop rivalry in the 1990s. The killings became two of the most high-profile unsolved murders in the US.
During Davis’ trial, the jury is expected to hear from several people linked to Combs, according to a witness list filed in the case.
They include his former business partner at Bad Boy Records and a former bodyguard, as well as rival Knight, who is currently serving a 28-year sentence for a hit-and-run.
Combs went on trial in 2025 over allegations of sex trafficking and racketeering. He faced up to life in prison but was acquitted of the most serious charges. He was sentenced to four years and two months in prison on lesser prostitution-related offences.
Legal experts said that, even if Davis is found guilty, the idea of charging Combs could be attractive to an ambitious prosecutor.
Sam Mirejovsky, a Las Vegas attorney and partner at law firm Sam & Ash, said this would be an even more attractive case after the perceived failure of the most recent attempts to prosecute Combs.
He said: “You could have an enterprising federal prosecutor who wants a celebrity trial and who takes Combs to the woodshed feeling that perhaps he got off a little bit lighter last go around.”
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