Some members of Tupac Shakur’s family left the courtroom Tuesday before prosecutors presented autopsy photos during the Las Vegas trial of the man accused of orchestrating the rapper’s 1996 killing. Others stayed to hear testimony detailing Shakur’s injuries and the circumstances of his death. The graphic images were shown on the second day of testimony against Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who is charged in connection with the drive-by shooting that killed Shakur in Las Vegas.
Lisa Gavin, a Clark County forensic pathologist and medical examiner, described Shakur’s injuries and cause of death. Jurors were first shown an image of a green body bag before being shown a graphic photo of Shakur’s body. Some relatives who remained in the courtroom looked away.
Shakur’s cousin Zayd Akinyela said he wanted to stay in court to learn more. I think we’ve been waiting 30 years to grieve properly,” Akinyela told The outside the courtroom. Seeing the photos of Shakur’s body made him feel “Very angry, very angry, to say the least, very sad,” Akinyela said.
Gavin described three bullets, one of which traveled through Shakur's chest, including through a lung. That caused his lung to collapse and bleed, and doctors ultimately removed the damaged lung in an effort to save his life, she said. Additional bullets damaged his intestines and other parts of his body, she said.
Jurors looked intently at the photos of Shakur’s body, which was bloated and had multiple chest wounds. The nearly full courtroom was quiet. Photos showed his tattoos and the chest tubes that were still in his body from the six days he spent in the hospital before dying.
The images were not shown in the video feed from the trial. Gavin was not at Shakur’s autopsy but was called as an expert witness because the examiner from 30 years ago has since died. As Gavin explained the photos, Davis sat still, looking at the screen in front of him.
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