Man charged in Tupac Shakur's death claims Sean 'Diddy' Combs put out $1 million hit Gina Barton, USA TODAYSeptember 7, 2025 at 4:00 AM 0 As members of two California gangs poured out of a Las Vegas boxing match in September 1996, Tupac Shakur, the most famous rapper in the country at the time, suck...
- - Man charged in Tupac Shakur's death claims Sean 'Diddy' Combs put out $1 million hit
Gina Barton, USA TODAYSeptember 7, 2025 at 4:00 AM
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As members of two California gangs poured out of a Las Vegas boxing match in September 1996, Tupac Shakur, the most famous rapper in the country at the time, sucker punched a rival.
The man hit the ground, and the mob attacked. Shakur, along with Death Row Records executive Marion "Suge" Knight and members of the Bloods street gang, beat the victim until security showed up. The man declined medical treatment and wouldn't tell the police what happened.
But he did tell his uncle, Duane Keith "Keffe D" Davis.
Davis, a leader of the Crips street gang, wanted to help his nephew get revenge. But in a Drug Enforcement Administration report detailing a secret police interview, obtained by USA TODAY and filed in court earlier this year, Davis said he had another reason to go after Shakur and Knight: Sean "Diddy" Combs had placed a $1 million bounty on the two men's heads.
Hours after the beat-down at the hotel, Shakur was shot in a drive-by. He died several days later. Knight was grazed in the head and survived.
Davis was charged with Shakur's murder in 2023. The allegation that Combs had put out hits on Shakur and Knight was highlighted in a filing by Davis' lawyers later that year, around the same time federal investigators targeted Combs for a host of unrelated crimes.
Tupac Shakur (left) and Sean Combs are shown together in this undated photo.
Two more accusations that Combs was involved in Shakur's death have surfaced in records filed as part of the recent spate of civil suits against Combs: That he bragged about ordering the hit, and that he may have paid for the rented Cadillac used in the drive-by shooting.
Shakur's murder and that of rival rapper Biggie Smalls, who was fatally shot in March 1997, have been scrutinized for nearly three decades, both in the media and in the courts. The killings have spawned conspiracy theories of coverups, hitmen and cops on gangbangers' payrolls. USA TODAY's review of the previously secret law enforcement and grand jury files, along with court records in civil cases against Combs, provide new insight into his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire and the violent hip hop rivalry that preceded it.
Combs, 55, has not been charged in connection with Shakur's death and has repeatedly denied involvement. A spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told USA TODAY Combs has never been a suspect in Shakur's murder.
In an unrelated federal case, Combs recently stood trial on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. In early July, the jury convicted him of two prostitution charges but acquitted him of the more serious racketeering and sex trafficking counts. His sentencing is set for October.
Combs' attorneys have pushed back against allegations of wrongdoing, which have swirled around him since the federal investigation began. They have filed defamation lawsuits against his accusers and the media, claiming in one that "all pretense of objectivity has been abandoned, as a global audience feasts at the all-you-can-eat buffet of wild lies and conspiracy theories."
In a statement to USA TODAY, one of Combs' attorneys, Erica Wolff, said the jury's not-guilty verdicts undermine the validity of the civil claims.
"Mr. Combs's acquittal on the trafficking and RICO charges proves what we have been saying about the civil cases since day one: they are all fabricated attempts to extort windfall payments from an innocent man," she said.
Why was Tupac Shakur shot?
The murders of Shakur and Smalls, whose real name was Christopher Wallace and who also performed under the moniker The Notorious B.I.G., largely defined 90s hip hop and roiled the music industry. Shakur and Smalls were among the most influential artists to top mainstream music charts rapping about growing up poor and Black in crime-ridden neighborhoods.
At the time of his death, Shakur was signed to West Coast record label Death Row, run by Knight and reportedly affiliated with the Bloods street gang. Smalls had a contract with Combs' Bad Boy Records, based on the East Coast and allegedly connected with the rival Crips gang.
Both murders went unsolved for decades. No one has ever been charged with Smalls' homicide, and the man widely believed to have committed it has since died.
Prosecutors in Clark County, Nevada have described Davis, who is charged with killing Shakur, as the man who called the shots for the South Side Crips street gang in Compton, California. They allege that although Davis didn't pull the trigger, he is responsible because one of his underlings did so at his command.
Davis has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. As part of his defense, his lawyers filed records detailing interviews he did with law enforcement officers in 2008 and 2009. The defense filings say the murder charge should be thrown out because Davis was granted immunity in exchange for telling investigators what he knew about Shakur's murder.
Those documents, along with transcripts of testimony before the grand jury that indicted Davis – reviewed by USA TODAY and made public by the court after his arrest – detail the circumstances surrounding the murder and the allegations that Combs was involved. Davis' 2019 book "Compton Street Legend" and a 2003 civil suit filed by a former Bad Boy president make similar claims.
According to those sources, here's how the dispute that led up to Shakur's death unfolded:
In 1994, Shakur was on trial in New York on charges of first-degree sexual abuse. He was not in custody and needed money, so he agreed to record a guest track for the artist Little Shawn. When Shakur arrived at Manhattan's Quad Recording Studios for the session, three men shot him five times during an attempted robbery. Combs and Smalls were upstairs at the time, and Shakur later claimed they were acting strangely.
Duane "Keffe D" Davis speaks with his attorney Carl E.G. Arnold as he appears for a hearing related to his indictment in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur on February 18, 2025 at District Court in Las Vegas. (Photo by John Locher-Pool/Getty Images)
The relationship further deteriorated after Shakur's trial ended with a guilty verdict and a prison sentence. Shakur, who had gotten an advance from Interscope Records, needed more money, but Interscope refused to give him any. Seeing an opening, Knight negotiated with Interscope's president to take over Shakur's contract and bring him to Death Row, according to grand jury testimony from Reggie Wright, Jr., a former cop who worked security for Knight. After the deal was done, Knight put up a bond of more than $1 million so Shakur, who had been convicted by a jury despite claims of innocence, could be released while his appeal was pending.
At the 1995 Source Awards, Knight touted Shakur's move to Death Row and insulted Combs, who often performed alongside Bad Boy artists.
"Any artist out there that want to be an artist and want to stay a star, and don't want to have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing, come to Death Row!" Knight said.
Suge Knight is shown at the 2007 BET Awards afterparty in this file photo.
The remark was tantamount to one gang leader threatening another's territory, said Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles detective who investigated Smalls' case after it went cold.
"Consider the ego of Combs, believing New York was his stomping ground, his back yard, then you've got Suge coming over and saying, 'I'm gonna take your artists,'" Kading said.
At an afterparty, the two men became involved in a heated exchange, Wright told the grand jury.
"I was there, standing right there," Wright testified. "And (Combs) approached (Knight) like, 'Hey, what's going on? Why you dissing me in front of everybody like that?'"
Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles Police Department detective, wrote the book "Murder Rap" about the investigations into the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, whose real name was Christopher Wallace and who also performed under the name The Notorious B.I.G.'He would give anything for those dudes' heads'
In September 1995, Knight's friend Jai Hassan-Jamal "Big Jake" Robles was fatally shot outside a party in Atlanta attended by both Knight's crew and Combs'. After that, Davis and the South Side Crips agreed to provide security for Combs when he needed to travel from New York to enemy territory on the West Coast, Davis wrote in his book. (Combs has denied involvement in the shooting and affiliation with the Crips.)
At a California stop on the 1995 "Summer Jam" tour, where Smalls and other hip-hop acts performed, about 40 Crips protected Combs' group, according to Davis.
Notorious B.I.G. (Aka Christopher Wallace, Biggie Smalls) poses for a photo at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards at the New York Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Walter Weissman/Globe Photos/ZUMA Wire via USA TODAY NETWORK
Davis told a joint state and federal task force that night was the first time Combs expressed a desire to have Knight and Shakur killed. Combs allegedly said something along the lines of, "he would give anything for those dudes' heads," according to a Drug Enforcement Agency report summarizing the 2008 task force interview, which Kading attended.
Later, Davis says in his book, he got a call from one of Combs' East Coast associates, Eric "Von Zip" Martin. Using Combs' nickname at the time, Martin said: "Yo, Puff said he needs to meet with you. Come to meet us at Greenblatt's Deli on Sunset."
At the Los Angeles deli, the group sat on the patio smoking marijuana. When Davis went inside to order a pastrami sandwich, Combs followed. The two stepped away from the counter to speak privately.
Davis wrote that Combs referred to Knight and Shakur, saying: "I have a couple of problems I need to be handled: Big CEO and Pac."
Davis said the bounty was $1 million, according to the DEA report. The same claim had been made in a 2003 lawsuit by former Bad Boy president Kirk Burrowes. A judge quickly threw out Burrowes' suit, which also accused Combs of involvement in Robles' death.
Since being charged with Shakur's murder, Davis has attempted to walk back his statements. He now says his book was largely written by a co-author and he hasn't even read it. Davis also recently claimed he was at home in Los Angeles – not in Vegas – on the night Shakur was shot.
Kading later wrote his own book about his team's cold-case investigation. He said he wasn't sure at the time what to make of Combs' alleged statements about wanting Knight and Shakur killed.
Tupac Shakur in 1990 on stage.
"How do we interpret that?" the retired detective said in an interview. "Did he really intend that, or was he talking out of fear and desperation?"
Back then, police were unable to find any evidence to corroborate Davis' story, and Kading thought Davis may have misinterpreted Combs' statements. But the recent rash of allegations against Combs has given the retired detective pause.
"We're starting to see a different side of Sean Combs than most of our impressions were back in the 90s and early 2000s," he said. "A little more calculated. A little more egomaniacal. I'm slightly shifting toward maybe there was more intention than I originally considered."
In 2011, the year Kading's book was published, Combs denied ordering a hit, telling LA Weekly: "This story is pure fiction and completely ridiculous."
Tupac is killed in Vegas, Suge Knight is grazed in the head
The September 1996 boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon lasted less than two minutes – about the same length as the beating that followed.
The attack on Davis' nephew was prompted by a brawl at a California shopping mall earlier that month, according to grand jury testimony. During the melee, one of the Crips allegedly snatched a gold Death Row medallion worn by one of the Bloods, according to grand jury testimony from Crips member Denvonta Lee, who saw it happen. Only a lucky few of the Bloods faction known as Mob Piru had received the gold and diamond medallions as Christmas gifts from Knight, which they wore as badges of honor.
"That's like taking somebody's crown," Lee told the grand jury. "It means something."
Fearing retribution during the Vegas trip, the Crips stuck together. But when Davis' nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, left the group to go to the restroom, the owner of the stolen chain recognized him from the mall.
And the rival gang descended.
After security showed up and the Bloods took off, Anderson and Davis, along with several other Crips, headed to the valet stand to wait for their cars. From his Mercedes Benz, parked nearby, Martin spotted Davis and motioned him over, Davis wrote in his book.
"Zip had a hidden compartment that he opened up, reached in and pulled a black .40 Glock out," Davis wrote. "He turned to me and said, 'It's time to get the money.'"
Davis wrote that he tucked the gun into his waistband, planning to use it only if his attempt at diplomacy failed with Knight, with whom he had played pop warner football as a kid.
Three carloads of Crips headed for Club 662. Knight managed the club – the numbers in its name translated to MOB (Members of Bloods) on a telephone keypad – and Shakur was scheduled to perform there later that night.
The Crips waited for an hour and a half in the back parking lot, but Knight and Shakur never showed up. Davis and his crew got bored and went to the liquor store. There, Davis jumped out of the van he had been riding in and hopped into the front passenger seat of a white rental Cadillac.
An image on a television monitor shows Tupac Shakur, left, and Marion "Suge" Knight at a Las Vegas boxing match the night Shakur was killed. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, left, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill, center, and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson, right, displayed the image at a 2023 news conference announcing the arrest and indictment of Duane "Keefe D" Davis for Shakur's 1996 murder.
As they drove back toward a hotel where they planned to party, they heard a group of women yelling, "Tupac! Tupac! We love you, Tupac!" The rapper leaned out the front passenger window of a black BMW to talk to them, and Davis' crew saw an opportunity, according to his book.
The Cadillac's driver made a U-turn and pulled up beside the BMW, driven by Knight. Crips member Lee told the grand jury Davis tossed the gun to Anderson, who should have been the shooter under gang code, since he was the victim of the beating. But he would have had to lean over Deandre "Big Dre" Smith, sitting next to him, to get a clear shot. So Anderson handed the gun to Smith, who fired.
In one of his interviews with police, Davis said Anderson was the shooter.
The group ditched the Cadillac because they knew the police would be looking for it, Davis wrote.
"The night of the shooting the gun was placed on one of the tires of the Cadillac," he wrote. "But when we went back for the car the next morning, the gun wasn't there."
As for the car, the gang had it cleaned and painted before returning it to the rental company, Davis wrote.
Three days after returning to Los Angeles, Davis met with Martin, Combs' East Coast associate. Martin's phone rang and Davis claimed he could hear Combs ask: "Was that us?"
Told that it was, Davis later told police, Combs was thrilled.
Death of Biggie Smalls
About six months later, on March 9, 1997, rapper Smalls was fatally shot while stopped at a red light in Los Angeles, where he and Combs had just left a party in separate cars.
Kading, the retired police detective who worked on the task force that investigated Smalls' murder years later, wrote in his book that he believes Knight hired a hitman to kill Smalls in retaliation for Shakur's death. Knight has denied that.
No charges were ever issued. Kading was removed from the task force after becoming the subject of an internal investigation in an unrelated case, for which he was ultimately exonerated.
Later that year, Combs' tribute to his fallen friend, "I'll be Missing You," skyrocketed him to stardom.
Images of the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. are shown during a performance by recording artist Sean "P Diddy" Combs at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Festival at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.Civil suits make additional claims about Combs and Shakur
Police had received information that the Cadillac used in Shakur's shooting was rented by an associate of its driver, Terrence "Bubble Up" Brown, in Compton, California.
But during the 2023 grand jury proceeding in Nevada, retired Las Vegas homicide detective Clifford Mogg said he couldn't verify that. Mogg said the rental company most often used by gang members had folded, and records from 1996 could only be checked with the vehicle identification number of the car or the renter's name and phone number.
"Since I had neither one of those, they were unable to provide any information," Mogg testified.
But in one of the dozens of civil suits filed against Combs since his ex-girlfriend, Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine first came forward with abuse allegations against him in November 2023, former Bad Boy president and co-founder Burrowes says Combs "orchestrated" the fatal shooting and may have rented the car used in it.
Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean Combs attend the Clive Davis party ahead of the Grammy Awards on Jan. 28, 2018.
The new complaint was filed 20 years after Burrowes first claimed in an unsuccessful civil case that Combs may have put out a hit on Shakur and Knight. In the current suit, Burrowes said he "witnessed instances in which Combs expressed paranoia and frustration over Shakur's success, indicating a deep-seated need to diminish his rival's influence." The suit claims "Combs allegedly made statements to insiders suggesting that Shakur's presence in the industry threatened his legacy, leading him to take increasingly aggressive measures to overshadow and eliminate competition."
The week before Shakur was shot in 1996, Combs hired several men to drive rental cars from New York to Vegas and back, Burrowes alleged.
"Plaintiff questioned the logic of this decision, as it would have been more cost effective and efficient for these individuals to fly," according to Burrowes' suit, which was filed in March 2025 in New York.
It continues: "Defendant Combs responded by telling Plaintiff to 'Shut the (expletive) up, mind his business,' and do as he says. The Plaintiff then proceeded to order the rental vehicles and paid each individual ... $150.00 per day. The Plaintiff was also directed to pay for the drivers' hotel stay."
According to the lawsuit, the men were not Bad Boy employees, yet Combs instructed Burrowes to request reimbursement from its parent company, Arista Records. The company ultimately paid Combs between $30,000 and $50,000 to cover the costs, the suit claims.
As of September 2, Combs' legal team had not been formally served with the suit and had not filed an answer to it.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Combs' attorneys denied the allegations and criticized Burrowes and his attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, who have also sued Combs' mother.
"This latest lawsuit ... is another frivolous attempt to re-litigate claims that have been repeatedly thrown out of court over the past 30 years," the statement says. "Despite repeated dismissals, Burrowes and Blackburn are intent on wasting the Court's time and resources by refiling dismissed claims and now dragging Mr. Combs' 80-year-old mother into this."
Male escort claims Combs mentioned Shakur hit at 'freak off'
Burrowes' civil suit isn't the only one that mentions a possible connection between Combs and the murder of Shakur.
A February 2025 suit, filed by a male escort named Steve Otis, claims Combs bragged about his connection to Shakur's killing and used it as a threat.
Otis alleges he would travel from his home in Florida to New York for sexual encounters with Combs and his partners at hotels. Such encounters were described at Combs' criminal trial as "freak offs," "king nights" and "hotel nights."
A still image from hotel security footage of Sean "Diddy" Combs and Casandra "Cassie" Ventura Fine at the now-closed luxury InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in 2016.
One of them occurred at the now closed InterContinental, where security video captured Combs kicking and punching Ventura Fine.
"Combs had Otis drink from a water bottle and then Combs rubbed baby oil all over Otis's body, one or both of which made Otis feel as if he had been drugged and not in complete control of his body," the suit says.
After an elaborate sexual performance with a woman, Otis claims he told Combs he wasn't feeling well and wanted to leave. Combs refused to let him go and "forcibly anally raped" him, the suit alleges.
Afterward, Otis' suit says, the music mogul made a threat: "You better not say a word to anybody about this. Did you hear me? . . . I'm not (expletive) playing with you. If I can get Pac hit, what the (expletive) do you think can happen to you?"
Combs' attorneys told USA TODAY the claims are false. They have filed motions to dismiss the case, arguing that the statute of limitations has expired and there are no facts to support Otis' allegations.
In another lawsuit, Ashley Parham claimed Combs and others "violently gang raped" her at an apartment in Orinda, California, after he overheard her accuse Combs of killing Shakur in a FaceTime call with a friend of his.
"Defendant Diddy heard Plaintiff's statement and made a remark that Plaintiff would 'pay' for her statement regarding Tupac and overall dismissal of Defendant Diddy," Parham's suit says.
Investigators at the Contra Costra Sheriff's Department deemed her report unfounded.
Combs' attorneys had not been formally served with Parham's suit and had not filed an answer in court as of September 2. In a statement to USA TODAY, they refuted Parham's allegations, saying Combs was nowhere near Orinda at the time.
"This new complaint – brought by an attorney who has already been sued for defaming Mr. Combs – demonstrates the depraved lengths plaintiffs will travel to garner headlines in pursuit of a payday," the statement says. "Mr. Combs looks forward to having his day in court where these lies – and the perverse motives of those who told them – will be revealed."
Costal hip hop rivalry ends
The rap rivalry between the East Coast and the West Coast is long over, and by all accounts, Combs and Bad Boy won.
Death Row Records filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and was largely dormant for more than 15 years. In 2022, Snoop Dogg, one of its most prominent early artists, bought the rights to most of its catalog – not including several albums by Shakur and Dr. Dre. The company's website lists six artists besides Snoop.
Knight lost his shares of the company under the bankruptcy and at one point claimed to have only $11 in the bank. He's serving a 28-year prison term after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter in connection with a 2015 hit and run that killed one man and injured another.
Meanwhile, Bad Boy Records, which is just one part of Combs' business empire, has sold more than half a billion records. In recent years, Bad Boy has signed rapper French Montana, R&B singer Janelle Monáe and pop-punk rapper Machine Gun Kelly.
According to estimates, Combs' net worth has declined from of $1 billion to about $400 million since his legal troubles began. The jury's verdict of not guilty on the racketeering charge means the government can't seize his assets, and it spared him a possible penalty of life in prison. Instead, Combs faces 20 years when he is sentenced Oct. 3. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the judge will likely order far less.
As for Davis, his trial is scheduled for February 2026. He is the only living person who allegedly heard Combs offer $1 million for killing Knight and Shakur. His testimony alone would never be enough to bring charges against the rap mogul, and there is no other evidence tying him to a murder-for hire.
Of the four men in the Cadillac that day, Davis is also the only one still alive.
Gina Barton is an investigative reporter at USA TODAY. She can be reached at (262) 757-8640 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @writerbarton or on Bluesky @writerbarton.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man charged in Tupac's death claims Sean Combs offered him $1 million
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