LAS VEGAS – Members of Tupac Shakur's family stepped out of the courtroom Tuesday before prosecutors showed photos from his 1996 autopsy at the Las Vegas trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is charged with orchestrating the rap giant's fatal drive-by shooting.
Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark County, Nevada, was among the early witnesses on the second day of testimony. Jurors were shown a photo of a green body bag at the beginning of her questioning, followed by a grisly photo of his body. His relatives who remained in the courtroom looked away. One woman got up to leave once the photos were shown.
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The bullet entered Shakur’s chest near his armpit, Gavin said, and traveled through his chest, including through a lung. That caused his lung to collapse and bleed, and doctors ultimately removed the damaged lung in an effort to save his life, she said.
Additional bullets damaged his intestines and other parts of his body, she said.
Jurors looked intently at the photos of Shakur’s body, which was bloated and had multiple chest wounds. The nearly full courtroom was quiet. One photo showed his tattoos and the chest tubes that were still in his body from the six days he spent in the hospital before dying.
The images were not shown in the video feed from the trial.
Gavin was not at Shakur’s autopsy but was called as an expert witness because the examiner from 30 years ago has since died.
As Gavin explained the photos, Davis sat still, looking at the screen in front of him. He occasionally whispered in his attorney’s ear.
Prosecutors allege Shakur was killed to avenge Shakur’s entourage attacking Davis’ nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson a few hours earlier at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson fight.
On Tuesday, jurors were shown the casino's surveillance video of the clash. The camera, which panned back and forth in the MGM Grand, showed a group of people beating and kicking someone on the ground.
The video showed Shakur and his entourage moving quickly through the crowded building in the minutes after. At times, the other men had to jog to keep up with the rapper.
The surveillance footage then showed security and police arriving at the scene and talking to Anderson, who was wearing a number 13 Dan Marino Miami Dolphins jersey.
A few hours later, Shakur, riding in a black BMW with hip-hop mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, was gunned down by shots fired from a white Cadillac that had Davis, Anderson and two other men inside. Davis is not charged with pulling the trigger.
Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he's convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution's narrative “fiction.”
Lawyer Michael Sanft told jurors Davis wasn't previously charged, despite implicating himself in interviews and his memoir, because law enforcement knew that he was “full of crap.”
Shakur remains a cultural icon and is considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time. He died as his popularity was peaking at age 25, and his legend has only grown in the years since.
His rap rival the Notorious B.I.G. was killed six months later in a shooting that has always been paired with Shakur's in the public memory.
That shooting has already been discussed at this trial and likely will be again. A former Los Angeles police detective testified that Davis was briefly a suspect in the shooting of the rapper born Christopher Wallace, but was ruled out. The court day began Tuesday with a recording of Davis talking to detectives about the Wallace shooting.
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Associated Press Writer Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho.