LOS ANGELES — The estate of rapper Tupac Shakur filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Los Angeles seeking unspecified damages tied to his 1996 murder, according to court filings. The suit names former gang leader Duane "Keefe D" Davis as the main defendant, alongside 99 unnamed co-conspirators that the family wishes to gather information on through the discovery process.

The case was filed by Tupac Shakur's brother, Maurice Shakur, acting as administrator of the estate for his late father, Mutulu Shakur. The legal action is separate from the pending criminal case against Davis.

The suit alleges there was a "complex conspiracy" to murder Tupac Shakur and states its aim is to uncover the identity of the "individuals who were involved" through discovery, according to court filings. The filing cites grand jury transcripts from Davis's criminal proceedings and interviews from the Netflix documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning as sources of information. The lawsuit documents state that grand jury transcripts and the documentary revealed a broader conspiracy to murder Tupac Shakur that involved more than mere retaliation for a prior altercation.

The documentary, released in November, included tapes of a police interview in which Davis claims that Sean Combs offered him $1 million (£769,000) to murder Tupac Shakur. Combs has denied involvement in the shooting and has called the documentary a shameful hit piece.

Davis is the only person ever charged in connection with Tupac Shakur's death. He was charged with a single count of murder in September 2023, has pleaded not guilty, and is scheduled to stand trial on August 10, 2026. He is currently imprisoned at Nevada's High Desert State Prison due to jailhouse fight convictions.

Tupac Shakur was shot four times in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas in September 1996 and died in a hospital six days later at age 25. Prosecutors believe Davis was in the white Cadillac that pulled up next to Shakur's car on September 7, 1996, near the MGM Grand. Police alleged that Davis planned the shooting with his nephew following an altercation with Shakur in a casino, obtained the gun from an unnamed associate, and admitted to being in the vehicle from which the shots were fired. The three men who were in the car with Davis, including his nephew, have all since died.

In court, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo described Davis as a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang who acted as the "on-ground, on-site commander" who "ordered the death" of Tupac Shakur, according to DiGiacomo's court statements. In his memoir Compton Street Legend, Davis wrote that Shakur pulled out a firearm during the encounter and one of Davis's associates returned fire with a Glock.

Tupac Shakur sold more than 75 million records worldwide and had roles in the films Juice, Above The Rim, and Poetic Justice. The lawsuit documents note that nearly 30 years after Shakur's death, the arrest of Davis in 2023 was the first and only arrest made in the case.