RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Billboard — the article as it was filed.
Nearly 30 years after the rap icon’s killing, 2Pac’s murder trial began in a Las Vegas courtroom Monday (Aug. 17).
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2Pac’s sister Sekyiwa Shakur sat down with Law & Crime Network on Tuesday (Aug. 18) and explained how the Shakur family has always had little to no expectation that justice would be served in the Death Row legend’s death.
“Because of the history of America and our family’s history here, we have no expectations or low expectations of the criminal system ever,” she said. “We’ve never had any expectations of the criminal system to hunt someone down for my brother’s murder.”
Sekyiwa continued: “Young Black boys, and their lives and deaths tend to be swept under the rug in America often. We didn’t have high expectations in the beginning.”
While she never expected much from the legal system, Sekyiwa sees justice in all of the people and creatives across various fields around the globe who the rapper born Tupac Shakur has inspired in the years since his passing.
“All of the doctors, legal field people, all of the lawyers, teachers, artists, new philosophers that have been inspired by 2Pac that keep his name, energy, integrity and vision for our people or human beings alive, that is justice,” she said. “The fact his impact still shakes, moves and shapes this world — that’s justice.”
Pac’s younger sister ended with a final message to the fans: “My message to them: Whoever you are, thank you for trusting him. Thank you for taking his words and his intentions and putting action and life to it and continuing his legacy of love, struggle and resilience.”
Duane “Keffe D” Davis was arrested in September 2023 and charged with first-degree murder for allegedly orchestrating the 2Pac shooting in September 1996 in Las Vegas.
The trial kicked off with opening statements on Monday, and prosecutors alleged that Davis carried out “an act of revenge” after 2Pac was involved in a melee in which Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, was jumped in a Vegas casino earlier in the night.
The former L.A. gang leader is not being framed as the triggerman in the shooting that killed the rapper at 25 years old, but Davis is the sole survivor of the group that allegedly carried out the shooting. The trial is expected to run for at least four additional weeks of testimony.
Watch the full interview with Sekyiwa Shakur below.
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