Tupac slaying suspect accused of 'mutual combat' with inmate

Katelyn Newberg, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan 28, 2025

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LAS VEGAS — The man accused of ordering the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed hip hop icon Tupac Shakur appeared in court on Tuesday for a separate battery case.

Duane Davis, 61, is accused of fighting with another inmate while at the Clark County Detention Center, defense attorney Carl Arnold told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“The report says it’s a mutual combat,” Arnold said.

Davis, wearing a blue jail uniform and standing next to his attorney while in handcuffs, appeared for a brief hearing in front of Justice of the Peace Harmony Letizia on Tuesday morning. She said his bail in the battery case would remain at $50,000.

Letizia ordered Davis back to court on Feb. 11.

According to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report, Davis got into a fight with Rochlon Hamilton, another inmate at the jail who is facing a murder charge after he was accused of fatally stabbing a homeless man during an argument at a Spring Valley park in February 2023.

Davis was being escorted through the jail after a “professional visit” when he passed Hamilton. The two “took a fighting stance” and began to grapple, as Davis took Hamilton to the ground, the report said. The two then began punching each other in the face and head until officers pepper sprayed them.

According to the report, Hamilton was seen standing by a sink in the room and staring at the area’s entrance for about a minute until Davis walked in. Hamilton is also now facing a battery by a prisoner charge in a separate case, court records show.

When interviewed by police, Davis said he was “just standing his ground,” and then invoked his right to an attorney. Hamilton also requested an attorney when police asked him questions, the report said.

Davis, a reported member of the South Side Crips, is accused of ordering the drive-by shooting near the Strip that killed Shakur and injured Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight. The shooting was allegedly part of an ongoing feud between the South Side Crips and the Bloods-associated Mob Piru gang, and was in retaliation for a fight at the MGM Grand involving Shakur, Knight, and Davis’ nephew Orlando Anderson.

The South Side Crips were associated with the Bay Boy Records label owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs, while the Mob Piru gang was tied to Death Row Records, prosecutors have said.

Davis has been in the county jail since he was indicted on a murder charge in connection with Shakur’s killing. His bail in the murder case remains at $750,000.