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Digital Camera World
Digital Camera World
Tom May

Leonard Jefferson wasn't using a professional camera and only knew the rapper Tupac Shakur slightly, yet he captured one of the most iconic images in modern music history

Tupac Shakur Murder
A photograph of rapper Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight, taken by Leonard Jefferson just minutes before the fatal shooting is displayed during the murder trial of Duane Davis, related to the 1996 killing of Shakur, at Clark County District Court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 21, 2026. The trial of the former gang leader accused of orchestrating the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur began on August 10, 30 years after one of America's most high-profile unresolved killings. The proceedings, expected to last a month, will likely not make clear who fired the shots that killed the California hip-hop legend on the night of September 7, 1996, while he was in Las Vegas to see a Mike Tyson boxing match. (Photo by Bizuayeha TESFAYE / POOL / AFP via Getty Images).

Thirty years ago, Leonard Jefferson took what turned out to be the last known photo of rapper Tupac Shakur. Jefferson is now back in the news, as a witness in the trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, who stands accused of Shakur's murder.

And you don't necessarily have to be a fan of hip-hop to find the details of his photograph fascinating.

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