On the second day of the highly‑anticipated trial of former Compton Crip leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the courtroom erupted when James "Mob James" McDonald, a former gang member who once worked with Death Row Records, stood up to testify about the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur.
McDonald began the proceeding by accusing the judge and the prosecution of threatening him with a contempt of court ruling if he did not comply with their questions. “I’m not going to send him to prison, you are,” he shouted, directing his words toward Davis and the defense attorney Michael Sanft.
Davis, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, alleges that he orchestrated Shakur’s death in retaliation for a fight his nephew, Orlando Anderson, had with the rapper the same night. McDonald, however, stated he had not been present during the shooting but claimed that the wounded entourage had identified the shooters that night.
He raised his voice repeatedly when Sanft asked whether he knew who was inside Shakur’s vehicle at the time of the shooting, stating that answering would “hurt” his former ally. McDonald also called Davis “tripping” and warned that the trial could damage both men. He concluded, “You’re asking me some questions that can hurt a person,” before returning to his seat, and later admonished Davis that he, too, would not want to face punishment.
The prosecution and defense have drafted their arguments around the entanglement of street gangs and the corruption of the 1990s Los Angeles scene, especially after the Rodney‑King rape trial and riots that made police cooperation cynical. The cases surrounding Shakur’s death, abandoned for years, were revived by a memoir from Davis, in which he admitted to firing the fatal shots but later said the book was largely fiction.
As the trial continues tomorrow, witnesses such as Reggie Wright Jr., a former Death Row manager and once‑police officer, will offer testimony, while the courtroom awaits potentially dozens of hours of sworn testimony and legal argument. The nation watches to see if the final day will deliver a definitive verdict after three decades of silence.
