The names to know in the Tupac Shakur murder trial

Key Points:

• Duane Keith Davis, also known as "Keffe D," is set to go on trial nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur's murder, accused of orchestrating the drive-by shooting that killed the rapper in 1996; he denies firing the gun but is charged with first-degree murder and gang-related intent.
• The case centers on a violent rivalry between Los Angeles gangs, with Davis alleging involvement of Sean "Diddy" Combs in seeking help to target Shakur and Suge Knight, though Combs denies any connection and has not been charged.
• Tupac Shakur was a seminal figure in West Coast rap and social activism, whose death followed a confrontation involving Davis' nephew Orlando Anderson, who was also implicated but died in a separate gang-related shooting.
• Suge Knight, head of Death Row Records and present during the shooting, is incarcerated and reportedly unwilling to testify, while other co-conspirators named in the indictment have died.
• The murder of The Notorious B.I.G., occurring six months after Shakur's death, is believed by investigators to be related, though not involving the same perpetrators, adding complexity to the longstanding East Coast-West Coast rap feud backdrop of the case.