Suge Knight Says Keffe D Already Told on Himself, Refuses to Take the Stand in Tupac Murder Trial

Marion "Suge" Knight wants no seat in the courtroom where Duane "Keffe D" Davis is standing trial for Tupac Shakur's 1996 killing, even though Knight was behind the wheel when bullets tore into their BMW near the Las Vegas Strip.

It was Knight who drove Shakur away from the MGM Grand on Sept. 7, 1996, after the pair attended the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon boxing match. A white Cadillac later pulled alongside their BMW at a red light, where Shakur was struck multiple times and Knight escaped with minor injuries.

Now imprisoned in California, Knight told ABC News he wants nothing to do with the prosecution. As reported by the outlet, he warned that forcing him into the courtroom could backfire on whichever side brings him there, whether Davis' attorneys or the state.

So Knight reduced his position to four words: "Leave me out of it." His resistance comes as prosecutors pursue Davis for Shakur's death at age 25.

Why Knight is reluctant to participate does not mean he has avoided talking about Davis. Knight told ABC News that Davis has already spoken extensively about his own role, questioning how the defense could overcome years of recorded interviews and Davis' own words.

Davis, 63, has pleaded not guilty to murder with a deadly weapon tied to gang activity. Prosecutors allege he orchestrated retaliation after Shakur and others attacked Davis' nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, inside the MGM Grand after the Tyson bout.

To build their prosecution, authorities have turned heavily to Davis' own words. He placed himself inside the white Cadillac in interviews and his 2019 memoir "Compton Street Legend," where he described obtaining a handgun and tossing it into the back seat without identifying who pulled the trigger.

The defense has attacked those accounts, arguing Davis exaggerated stories about Shakur's death for money and entertainment. A judge nevertheless ruled that a 2008 police interview could be presented in court, giving prosecutors another recorded version of what Davis says he witnessed.

At the center of Knight's resistance is an extraordinary position: the man who survived beside Shakur says neither side should expect him to help. He has warned that compelling his appearance could damage the prosecution or defense rather than strengthen either side.

Thirty years have also narrowed the number of people who can describe those moments firsthand. Davis is the last living man prosecutors place in the Cadillac, while Knight remains the person who was beside Shakur and lived to describe what he saw.

Knight is serving a 28-year California prison sentence after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the 2015 death of Terry Carter. From prison, the former Death Row boss has made his choice unmistakable — he will talk about Davis, but he refuses to become the witness either side wants him to be.