Death Row Records co-founder, Suge Knight insists he won’t testify against Tupac’s murder suspect despite being with the rapper when he was murdered

Death Row Records co-founder Marion ‘Suge’ Knight has insisted that he won’t be testifying against Tupac’s murder suspect despite being with the rapper when he was killed.

Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis, 60, was arrested last week by Las Vegas detectives and has been charged with murder with the use of a deadly weapon.

Knight, the 58-year-old Death Row Records co-founder, told TMZ that he believes police have arrested the wrong man for Tupac’s murder, and stated that he would not be taking the stand in court. 

He was injured during the 1996 shooting, and despite being the only living witness, said: ‘1000% I wouldn’t go. I wouldn’t testify, none of that.’

Knight is currently serving a 28-year jail sentence for a hit-and-run crash in 2015. 

Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo described Davis as the ‘on-ground, on-site commander’ who ‘ordered the death’ of Shakur. Davis was denied bail by Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese.

Shakur was 25 years old when he was shot four times in the chest on September 7, 1996, while he was in Las Vegas. He died on September 13. 

Shakur was in a BMW driven by Knight in a convoy of about 10 cars.  They were waiting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted. 

Cops say that Davis started to ‘devise a plan’ to kill Shakur and Marion ‘Suge’ Knight after they attacked his nephew at a Mike Tyson boxing match.

They added that the rapper and his manager were with members of the Mob Piru gang, and knew that the shooting was a ‘gang’ investigation from the offset.

A Nevada grand jury indicted Davis in the killing after being seated for ‘several months’. Davis was arrested while on a walk near his home last week.

He has spoken openly about being at the scene of the drive-by shooting 27 years ago, and admitted handing the murder weapon to a fellow gang member. Davis is the only one who was in the car that night who is still alive. 

Last week, Mopreme Shakur, Tupac’s step-brother, called the arrest of Davis 27 years after the death of the rapper ‘bittersweet’.

‘We have been through decades of pain,’ he told CNN, ‘They have known about this guy, who been running his mouth, for years.

‘So why now? For us, this is not over. We want to know why, and if there were any accomplices.’

During a press conference on Friday, homicide Lt. Jason Johansson called Davis the ‘leader and shot caller.’

He admitted that many facts of the case were known to cops in the ‘first few months’ of the investigation, but they reinvigorated their efforts in 2018.

Johansson said the police department ‘knew this was likely our last time to take a run at this case to successfully solve this case and bring forth a criminal charge’ after Davis made ‘admissions to his involvement’ of the homicide.

Police believe Davis obtained the gun that was used from a ‘close associate,’ but declined to give any more details, saying they would come out during the trial.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill added that the case was ‘far from over’, saying they are working to build a ‘successful prosecution’.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson said: ‘It has often been said that justice delayed is justice denied. In this case, justice has been delayed, but justice won’t be denied.’

Davis wrote in his 2019 tell-all memoir ‘Compton Street Legend,’ that he was in the Cadillac involved in the shooting.

In the book, he said that he told authorities about his involvement in the killing in 2010, during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities.

‘They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out,’ he wrote.

At the time, he was 46 and facing life in prison on drug charges when he agreed to speak with the authorities.

The arrest comes two months after Vegas cops raided Davis’ wife’s home on July 17, looking for items ‘concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.’

Authorities seized multiple computers, a cell phone, and a hard drive from the property, and a Vibe magazine featuring Shakur.

They also took several 40-caliber bullets, two ‘tubs containing photographs’, and a copy of Davis’ memoir.