LAS VEGAS (AP) — An ailing former Los Angeles-area gang leader has been denied release from a Las Vegas jail ahead of his trial in the 1996 killing of music legend Tupac Shakur, despite a bid by a hip-hop music figure to underwrite his $750,000 bond. A Nevada judge rejected house arrest with electronic monitoring for Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 61, saying she wasn’t satisfied with assurances that Davis and his would-be benefactor — Cash “Wack 100” Jones — weren’t planning to reap profits from the sale of Davis’ life story. Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny said in her ruling issued Wednesday that a review of Jones’ financial records also did little to address her concerns that Jones might be a “’front’ or ‘middleman’ for the true bond poster.
” Davis has sought to be released since shortly after his arrest last September made him the only person ever charged with a crime in the killing, which has drawn intense interest and speculation for 27 years. Prosecutors allege the gunfire in Las Vegas that killed Shakur stemmed from competition between East Coast members of a Bloods gang sect and West Coast groups of a Crips sect, including Davis, for dominance in a musical genre known at the time as “gangsta rap.” Davis has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
His trial is scheduled for Nov. 4. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
After a 45-minute hearing on Tuesday, Kierny said she was left with more question.
