Prosecutors showed photos from Tupac Shakur's autopsy at the Las Vegas trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, who is charged with orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed the rap star.
Some members of Tupac Shakur's family had to step out of the courtroom Tuesday, August 18, before prosecutors showed the photos which have now made their way to the internet.
Other family members remained in the courtroom to face the grim facts of what happened to his body.
Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he's convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution's narrative "fiction."
Lawyer Michael Sanft told jurors Davis wasn't previously charged, despite implicating himself in interviews and his memoir, because law enforcement knew that he was "full of crap."
Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Clark County, Nevada, was among the early witnesses on the second day of testimony. Jurors were shown a photo of a green body bag at the beginning of her questioning, followed by a grisly photo of his body.
Some relatives who remained in the courtroom looked away. One woman got up to leave once the photos were shown.
Shakur's cousin Zayd Akinyela said he wanted to stay in court to learn more.
"I feel like the details, especially for people that are close to him, honestly for me helps, helps the grief process. I think we've been waiting 30 years to grieve properly,"
Akinyela told The Associated Press outside the courtroom. "A lot of people don't get to grieve until they understand what happened to their loved one and how it happened." He added, "That's why I wanted to stay and just see for my own personal closure."
Akinyela said he hadn't known how many times his cousin was shot and can't help but think of the ways the night could have played out differently.
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.
One photo 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. He occasionally whispered in his attorney's ear.
Akinyela said the photos made him feel "very angry, very angry, to say the least, very sad."
But he said, "I'm very spiritual, so just seeing the body doesn't affect me the same way as it might some people. I do believe that his spirit is still around and still lives on through his family and through his legacy."
