Former gangster Mob James refuses to rat out old…
A infamous former gangbanger scoffed at legal professionals asking him about Tupac Shakur’s homicide — daring the court to “treat me as a hostile witness” in fiery testimony on Tuesday.
“Mob James” McDonald — former member of Compton’s Mob Piru Gang and non-public muscle for Death Row Records — scoffed at legal professionals on both sides who peppered him with questions about the gang warfare that led to the rapper’s 1996 homicide on the Las Vegas Strip.
“I’m aware of a lot of things. Things that was going on. People ain’t talked about it in 30 years. Today ain’t one of them,” McDonald said as the prosecution tried to tie the now 63-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis — of the rival South Side Compton Crips gang — to the homicide plot.
Former Mob Piru Gang enforcer “Mob James” McDonald speaks in Las Vegas at the trial against Duane “Keffe D” Davis. AP Photo/John Locher
Duane “Keffe D” Davis seems in court for his homicide trial associated to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur at the Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada Tuesday. via REUTERS
Tupac Shakur attends the premiere of “Poetic Justice” before his 1996 homicide. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
McDonald was a lieutenant for Suge Knight, a fellow Mob Piru member and the pinnacle of Shakur’s label Death Row Records.
“Me or anybody else raising up the dead is wrong,” McDonald said when requested to discuss about the 30-year-old beef.
“I don’t want to send [Davis] to prison. Even though we don’t like each other,” McDonald declared before ripping the court for forcing him to dredge up reminiscences of the old life he needs to put behind him and defend his grandchildren from.
McDonald’s testimony appeared to do little to help show his former rival was the one who orchestrated Shakur’s homicide.
Tupac Shakur attends the premiere of “I Like It Like That” to benefit Women In Need. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
A 1996 {photograph} of the car that rapper Tupac Shakur was driving in when he was shot is displayed during the Duane Davis homicide trial at the Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Monday. Steve Marcus/POOL GWN via AP
Prosecutors say Davis gave a gun to his nephew Orlando Anderson and told him to shoot Shakur as an “act of revenge” after the rapper and his buddies beat Anderson up.
It took more than 25 years to arrest and charge Davis, who has acknowledged that his nephew — now lifeless — was the one who fired the pictures, but has denied giving the order.
McDonald had been managing security at Suge Knight’s Las Vegas membership, where Knight and Shakur have been headed during the ambush.
He said he knew who was and wasn’t current during the assault, but he wouldn’t identify names — nor reply questions about the skirmishes that erupted in Compton after the homicide.
“You’re asking me something that’s gonna hurt this dude!” McDonald said to Davis’ attorney Michael Sanft.
A 1996 picture of rapper Tupac Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight is displayed during the Duane Davis homicide trial at Clark County District Court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Monday. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Michael Ingram, investigator for MGM Resorts, factors to a map of the MGM Grand on line casino as he testifies during the homicide trial of Duane Davis, associated to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur Tuesday. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The testimony ended in a shouting match with McDonald throwing up his fingers and saying “I’m not answering nothing. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Then, turning to Davis, he said: “Cover your lawyer, man. That dude is trippin.’”
“I’m not gonna send him to prison. You are,” he said of his old enemy.
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