Witness says Tupac joined attack on Duane Davis’ nephew hours before shooting death

Prosecutors have claimed that bad blood between two gangs, and the beating of Orlando Anderson, led to Shakur's killing.LAS VEGAS (CN) — A Las Vegas police officer approached a man on Sept. 7, 1996, who’d just been attacked by assailants, one of whom was identified on Tuesday as Tupac Shakur.Testifying Tuesday on the second day of the Shakur murder trial, Kenneth Rios watched a video taken inside the MGM Grand on that night. Jurors saw Rios and other officers approach Orlando Anderson, the nephew of Duane “Keffe D” Davis and the man Davis has claimed fired the shots that killed Shakur.Davis — on trial for murder in connection with Shakur’s death — and jurors heard Rios testify about asking if Anderson needed medical attention and wanted to press charges.“We thought he was a victim, yes,” Rios told the jury, adding: “It was Orlando. I remember his first name.”Two hours later, someone fired a series of gunshots that would take Shakur’s life and graze Marion “Suge” Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records.Prosecutors called a series of witnesses who either were at the MGM, the scene of Shakur’s shooting several blocks away or Knight’s club, where world-renowned rapper Shakur planned to perform that night.Surveillance video showed Anderson in a white Dan Marino jersey standing in the MGM when a group of men began hitting and kicking him. They quickly fled after the attack. Video showed them moving swiftly through the casino floor and outside, while officers spoke with Anderson.Reginald Wright Jr., a former police officer who had a private security company that worked for Knight, identified two of the assailants as Shakur and Knight.A judge in 1996 revoked Knight’s probation because of his involvement in the MGM brawl.Prosecutors have said Davis, affiliated with the South Side Compton Crips gang, wanted retaliation for his nephew’s beating that stemmed from bad blood between Anderson and Mob Piru, a rival gang.Knight’s club — Club 662 — drew its name from letters affiliated with numbers on old-fashioned phones, with 662 spelling “mob,” or Members of the Blood. Mob Piru is a subset of the Bloods gang.Anderson sought no criminal charges, and Rios said there effectively was no crime as prosecutors wouldn’t likely take the case. However, he opted to write a report after Shakur’s shooting and more details emerged.About two hours later, after 11 p.m., William Heidmeir was working with police officers about the theft of several vehicles at the Maxim Hotel, now the Westin Las Vegas Hotel & Spa. He said gunshots from the street below led them to the railing.“It was a series of pops,” he added.Heidmeir told jurors he saw a caravan of vehicles turn around and travel toward Las Vegas Boulevard.Moments later, at Club 662, people learned that Shakur had been shot, James McDonald testified.Appearing under subpoena and saying attorneys would need to treat him as a hostile witness, McDonald said he’d been affiliated with a gang. Knight employed him and others as security, along with Wright’s private security company.Acknowledging conspiracy theories claiming that Wright was involved in Shakur’s death, McDonald called it impossible.McDonald also described the intense gang war in Compton, California, raging at the time. He lived in that city in the 1990s, adding that Shakur’s death in Las Vegas would soon spill into his city.“This wasn’t really our beef,” McDonald said. “This was between Suge Knight and Keffe D.”McDonald refused to answer some questions, saying they’d reflect badly on Davis. Explaining that at one point in his life he’d kill someone who struck him, because his gang reputation required it, the 61-year-old has since left that kind of life.“I don’t want to send him to prison, even though we don’t like each other,” McDonald said, indicating Davis. “I changed my life. I’m raising my grandkids, teaching them not to be like their paw paw.”The trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads