Tupac's stepbrother makes heartbreaking plea as rapper's murder trial begins with opening statements today: Live updates

By KATRINA SCHOLLENBERGER, US HEAD OF LIVE NEWS Updated: 16:54, 17 August 2026 Tupac's stepbrother Mopreme Shakur said he 'wanted his brother back' as the legendary rapper's murder trial is set to resume today.  'The justice I want, I will never get. I want my brother back. Period dot. I want my little brother back. Pac didn’t get a trial, he just got a death sentence,' Shakur told BBC News.  'The amount of pain, distress, heartache that the family has gone through, and Pac’s fans have gone through, is unmatched.'  Opening statements will begin in the long-awaited trial of Duane 'Keffe D' Davis over the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed the California Love hitmaker.  The proceedings kicked off in Las Vegas last week, nearly 30 years after the 25-year-old musician was gunned down while riding in the passenger seat of a BMW driven by former Death Row Records boss Suge Knight. Tupac had been in Las Vegas to watch a Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand on September 7, 1996, hours before a white Cadillac pulled alongside the car and gunfire erupted. He died from his injuries six days later.  Davis, 63, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, is the only person ever charged in Shakur's killing. Prosecutors allege he ordered the revenge attack and provided the gun used in the shooting, although they do not claim he pulled the trigger. Follow the Daily Mail for more updates...  Mopreme Shakur appeared on the BBC on August 16 to share his thoughts on his stepbrother’s murder trial, nearly 30 years after Tupac’s fatal shooting in Las Vegas. Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in connection with Tupac’s drive-by shooting death in September 1996. 'The justice I want, I will never get. I want my brother back. Period dot. I want my little brother back,' he said. 'Pac didn’t get a trial, he just got a death sentence. The amount of pain, distress, heartache that the family has gone through, and Pac’s fans have gone through, is unmatched,' he continued. Shakur said that the family were ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the outcome of the trial. Members of the public hoping to watch one of hip-hop's most anticipated murder trials in person will have to rely on luck to get inside the courtroom. Public seating at the Clark County District Court in Las Vegas will be extremely limited, with seats being handed out through a daily lottery, according to AP News. Those who fail to secure a coveted courtroom seat will still have another option. Officials are opening a room on the courthouse's second floor where members of the public can watch a live feed of the proceedings. Judge Carli Kierny is presiding over the trial, which is expected to last about a month. A supplemental witness list obtained by USA Today last week includes several notable names prosecutors could call to the stand in the trial over Tupac Shakur’s murder. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and his former bodyguard, Eugene ‘Gene’ Deal, are among the most prominent names listed as potential state witnesses as proceedings get underway. Combs is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence following his July 2025 conviction on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Tupac’s sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, as well as his stepbrother, Maurice ‘Mopreme’ Shakur, and cousin Katari Cox, are also expected to testify. Death Row Records CEO Marion ‘Suge’ Knight is also on the list of potential witnesses, despite his defiant refusal to testify in the case. Marion 'Suge' Knight has insisted on several occasions that he won't be testifying against Tupac's murder suspect despite being with the rapper when he was killed. Duane 'Keefe D' Davis was arrested by Las Vegas detectives in October 2023 and was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon in Shakur's case. Knight, the 61-year-old Death Row Records co-founder, told TMZ in 2023 that he believes police have arrested the wrong man for Tupac's murder, and stated that he would not be taking the stand in court. He was injured during the 1996 shooting, and despite being the only living witness, said: '1000% I wouldn't go. I wouldn't testify, none of that.' Last week, he doubled down on his defiant statements to ABC News, saying: 'This trial has nothing to do with me and if somebody brings me there, it's gonna hurt whoever brings me there. I promise you that.' Knight is currently serving a 28-year jail sentence for a hit-and-run crash in 2015.