New insights into one of hip-hop's most enduring mysteries — the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur — may finally emerge during the upcoming trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis.

Davis, 63, stands accused of orchestrating the drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip that also wounded rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight.

His jury trial is slated to commence on Aug. 10, nearly three years after his arrest in 2023.

He has entered a plea of not guilty.

On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur occupied the passenger seat of a black BMW driven by Knight when a white Cadillac drew alongside on their right and gunfire erupted.

Knight sustained wounds but survived, while Shakur succumbed to his injuries a week later, at the age of 25.

Police and prosecutors say the shooting resulted from a fierce rivalry for dominance in a music genre, which pitted East Coast members of a Bloods gang faction against West Coast members of a Crips faction that Davis has said he led in Compton, California.

That evening, Davis was accompanied by three others in the Cadillac, yet none of them were ever charged in connection with Shakur's murder before their deaths.

Here is what we have established about the occupants of both vehicles, based on information from authorities, court records, grand jury testimony, interviews, and Davis's 2019 tell-all memoir, "Compton Street Legend."

Shakur is widely regarded as one of the most influential rappers of all time.

He achieved five No. 1 albums, earned six Grammy Award nominations, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

In 2023, he received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he is set to appear in the upcoming video game "Stranger than Heaven."

His demise came while his fourth solo album, “All Eyez on Me,” continued to dominate the charts, having sold approximately 5 million copies.

He was also known by the stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, and he showcased his talents as an actor in a number of films.

Born Lesane Parish Crooks in New York in 1971, Shakur had his name changed a year later.

His late mother, Afeni Shakur, and late stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, were both active members of the Black Panther Party in New York.

Tupac Shakur maintained little closeness with his biological father, William “Billy” Garland.

Two of the rapper’s siblings, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur and Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, have condemned the authorities for their inertia and sluggishness in bringing charges against anyone for their brother’s death.

Knight founded Death Row Records, a Los Angeles-based music label that represented Shakur at the time of his death.

Knight’s moniker was shortened from “Sugar Bear,” his nickname growing up in Compton.

Knight and Shakur were en route to a nightclub when their vehicle came under fire in the vicinity of the Las Vegas Strip.

Knight sustained a minor injury from a bullet or shrapnel.

At 61, Knight is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence in California for fatally striking a Compton businessman outside a burger stand in January 2015.

That incident marked the end of the former rap mogul's dramatic fall from his peak as one of the most powerful and feared names in the music industry.

Davis recalled that he and Knight had known one another since childhood, having even shared the field on the same youth football team in Compton.

Knight subsequently pursued college football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and, for a brief period during the 1987 NFL players’ strike, served as a replacement player for the Los Angeles Rams.

In his memoir, Davis portrays Knight and himself as the “only living eyewitnesses to what truly happened.”

“Like two rams locking horns, Suge and I looked each other dead in the eye,” he writes when describing the moments right before the shooting.

Law enforcement authorities had long harbored suspicions that Anderson was the gunman, who was 22 at the time.

Although Davis was his uncle and 12 years his senior, he characterized their bond as one akin to brothers, close friends, and even a father-son dynamic.

Shortly before the drive-by shooting, Anderson had been severely beaten in a brawl at the MGM Grand casino, an incident involving Shakur and his associates, including Knight.

Authorities, authors, and Davis himself agree that the shooting was an act of retaliation for the assault on Anderson.

Their assault on my nephew provided us with the unequivocal mandate to take action, Davis asserts in the book.

Davis stated that he had obtained a handgun from an associate and placed it on the rear seat of the Cadillac, yet he refrained from disclosing who had fired the lethal shots.

Anderson was seated in the back of the vehicle, directly behind his uncle.

Neither the Cadillac nor the firearm employed in the shooting was ever retrieved, as recounted by retired Las Vegas police Detective Clifford Mogg, who had been tasked with the investigation in early 2018.

"We were never able to identify the person who rented the car, where it was rented from, and as for the gun, we have never recovered the weapon used in the murder to this day," Mogg said in testimony to the grand jury.

Anderson, who denied any involvement in Shakur’s killing, died two years later in what police described as an unrelated shooting at a Compton car wash.

Also known as “Big Dre,” Smith was seated in the rear of the vehicle that evening, positioned directly beside Anderson.

Although authorities have asserted their belief that Anderson pulled the trigger, the grand jury testimony served to undermine that hypothesis.

Denvonta Lee, a former associate of Davis, testified before the grand jury that it was Smith who fired the shots at Shakur and Knight.

He further stated that Anderson had attempted to reach across Smith but lacked a "clear shot" through the left-rear passenger window.

The former associate, who was not in the car but described a conversation he had with Smith days after the shooting, said that Smith took the gun from Anderson, fired it, and allowed Anderson to receive credit for Shakur's death.

According to the Los Angeles County coroner's office, Smith, who passed away in 2004 at the age of 30, succumbed to natural causes.

Brown was at the helm of the Cadillac from which the shots were discharged.

Davis recounted in his memoir that, on that particular night, they were heading toward Las Vegas Boulevard when they caught sight of Shakur leaning out of the BMW’s window, acknowledging his fans with a wave.

Davis instructed Brown to execute a U-turn, and they proceeded at a leisurely pace past the rapper’s entourage until Davis noted that they had “found who we were seeking.”

Brown met his demise in a 2015 shooting at a medical cannabis dispensary in Compton.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office stated that his full name was Terry Tyrone Brown, although investigative records have referred to him inconsistently as both "Terrence" and "Terrance."