Suspect accused of murdering Tupac speaks out for the first time since being arrested

The solo suspect accused of murdering Tupac Shakur has spoken out for the first time since his arrest.

The notorious murder of legendary New York rapper, Tupac Shakur, stumped the authorities for almost three decades, coming in at a time amid rife gang turf wars, police scandals and a street code against 'snitches.'

Investigation into the high profile assassination in 1996, which saw the 25-year-old gunned down while in the passenger seat of a BMW at a red light on the Las Vegas strip, then seemingly ground to a halt over the years. That was up until 2023 when police turned to suspect Duane Keith 'Keffe D' Davis, a former Compton, California, gang leader.

Tupac was murdered in a car in 1996 (mark peterson/Corbis via Getty Images)

The retired gangster's memoir, Compton Street Legend, published in 2019, puts him as the 'last living eyewitness to Tupac's murder.'

Meanwhile, Davis claimed in a public 2018 interview for a BET show that he was in the Cadillac that fired at Tupac, who was in the car with the founder of Death Row Records, Suge Knight, at the time.

The authorities say Davis was the alleged 'shot caller' in the drive-by shooting and use his own accounts from the memoir and public media appearances in the case against him.

Davis appeared to admit he was in the car that shot at Tupac in a 2018 interview (BET/ABC)

Now, Davis has spoken out for the first time since going behind bars in an exclusive interview with ABC News.

In the bombshell jailhouse interview from Clark County Detention Center, the 61-year-old maintained he is 'innocent' and described himself as a 'good man', having long left behind a life of crime on the streets.

"I did everything they asked me to do. Get new friends. Stop selling drugs. I stopped all that," he said.

Footage of his arrest in 2023 (ABC)

As for the supposed evidence against him, he claims he wasn't the wordsmith behind the memoir and hasn't even read it, instead accusing the co-author of running with his artistic liberties.

He also claimed he was nowhere near the scene when Tupac was fatally shot, insisting he was at home in Los Angeles and that '20 or 30 people' will attest to his alibi in his trial.

"They don't have nothing," he continued about the prosecution. "And they know they don't have nothing. They can't even place me out here. They don't have no gun, no car, no Keffe D, no nothing."

The suspect told the news outlet he is 'innocent' (ABC)

A sticking point in the case is over two other alleged police interview Davis, the first of which in 2008 with LAPD where he gleaned information to cops in a 'proffer agreement,' meaning he couldn't be prosecuted for it.

He told the news outlet that whatever he said to cops was just what they wanted to hear and so they would 'let me go.'

"That's the only way you're walking free," Davis recalled.

Besides, he states the non-prosecution agreement should still hold weight in a trial as 'a deal is a deal.'

Meanwhile, he claims he made other potentially incriminating public statements because 'they paid me to say that.'

Davis has pleaded not guilty (JOHN LOCHER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Instead, he blames an ex-Compton cop who ran security at Knight's record company in the 1990s.

Still, David has been charged with one count of murder with use of a deadly weapon with gang enhancement and another charge in connection with a fight with another inmate.

The grandfather says he should be 'out' to enjoy the 'twilight' of his years with his family and is determined to walk free from the impending murder trial, which he has plead not guilty to.

"God got my back, and God will see me through this," Davis said. "He had my back with cancer, I survived the streets, and the FBI. That's a big accomplishment for a man from Compton."