'Tupac Chose the 'Wrong N***** to Play With': Duane 'Keffe D' Davis Boasted the Rap Icon 'Should Have Been Protected Better' by Suge Knight — as Self-Confessed Criminal Faces Trial for Allegedly Orchestrating Hit

The man accused of planning the murder of Tupac Shakur previously boasted about the rap icon's execution, RadarOnline.com can report.

Duane 'Keffe D' Davis confessed to orchestrating the hit on Shakur in his explosive memoir, but has since changed his story and now claims he is innocent.

Davis heads to trial on Monday, August 10, nearly 30 years after Shakur's shocking slaying on the streets of Las Vegas. The 63-year-old faces a single count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in Shakur's death.

While he has entered a not guilty plea, Davis allegedly confessed to the crime in his 2019 self-published tell-all memoir, COMPTON STREET LEGEND.

The notorious member of the California-based gang The South Side Compton Crips wrote that the fateful night all started with a brawl at the MGM Grand hours earlier, when members of rival gang the Bloods attacked Davis' nephew, the late Orlando 'Baby Lane' Anderson, after a Mike Tyson fight.

In retribution, a "livid" Davis armed himself with a deadly crew made up of himself, Anderson, and others "ready to burn their a---s up," he wrote.

"Tupac, [Death Row Records co-founder] Suge Knight and the rest of the n-----s didn’t have any business putting their hands on my beloved nephew, Baby Lane. Period," Davis wrote. "Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something to their a--."

He added, "Tupac chose the wrong game to play and the wrong n-----s to play with.

"Suge and them should have done a better job of protecting that dude because they knew who the f--k we were and the kind of s--t we were capable of. Tupac may not have known, but Suge and his peeps definitely knew.

"Tupac was a puppy that got swallowed up by some ferocious sharks. He shouldn't have ever got [sic] involved in that bulls--t of trying to be a thug."

"South Side Crips earned some stripes on the collar from street n-----s due to the Tupac shooting," Davis concluded.

Shakur was shot four times by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Paradise, Nevada, on September 7, 1996. He died six days later at age 25.

The California Love hitmaker's murder went unsolved for decades until Davis wrote his book and started bragging, reopening the case. He was subsequently arrested in connection with Shakur's murder on the morning of September 29, 2023, and has remained behind bars ever since, while waiting for his upcoming day in court.

However, earlier this week, the lone suspect told KLAS in a jailhouse interview that he was set up, and pointed a finger at another former suspect.

"To me, I think their witness, (Death Row Records former security chief) Reggie Wright Jr."

"All he do is lie and tell stories. He even be on the interviews threatening my son, threatening my family," he continued. "It's wrong. Even (retired LAPD detective Greg) Kading be on them interviews threatening my family. It’s wrong, man. Period. It's wrong."

Since his arrest, Davis has been steadfast about his innocence, saying he admitted to a role in the rap legend's killing simply to make money for his family.

He further claims he "wasn't in Nevada, period," at the time of the shooting.

But in 2024, prosecutors filed new evidence that revealed Davis' wife made a hotel reservation in Sin City in her name when the murder occurred.

His nephew, Anderson, was shot to death in Compton in 1998 following a gun battle that left two other men dead. He was considered to be the prime suspect in the murder of Shakur, but was never charged.