A former gang member forced to testify in the murder trial of Lil Lil had a combative exchange with the defence lawyer, revealing the hard‑edge street code and the gang war that fuelled the 1996 slaying of rap legend Tupac Shakur.
James "Mob James" McDonald told the court he was threatened with contempt if he answered questions about who fired the shots, even saying that he could not "send him to prison, even though we don’t like each other" when his older brother addressed him about the case. His comments were aimed at Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the ex‑leader of the South Side Compton Crips who has been charged with orchestrating the killing.
The trial seeks to close a 30‑year gap that has left the high‑profile murder cold. Shakur was 25 when he was shot in a drive‑by on a Las Vegas street after a Mike Tyson bout on 7 September 1996. Prosecutors claim Davis planned the attack after his nephew Orlando Anderson got involved in a fight with Shakur earlier in the evening.
Witnesses, including McDonald and former Death Row Records manager Reggie Wright, have supplied testimony on whether they were present and what they saw. While Davis remains in custody and maintains a not‑guilty plea, his prior memoir claims he was a passenger in the vehicle that fired the shots and supplied the weapon, though he later distanced himself from the book. The court continues on Wednesday as the case unfolds, seeking to finally identify who killed the famous rapper.
