Orlando Anderson

{{Short description|American gang member and prime suspect in the murder of Tupac Shakur}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Orlando Anderson | image = Orlando Anderson.jpg | caption = Anderson in 1997 | birth_name = Orlando Tive Anderson | birth_date = {{Birth date|1974|8|13}} | birth_place = Compton, California, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|5|29|1974|8|13}} | death_place = Willowbrook, California, U.S. | occupation = Gang member | organization = South Side Compton Crips | children = 4 | relatives = Duane "Keefe D" Davis (uncle) | death_cause = Gunshot wound | other_names = {{hlist|Baby Lane|Lando}}}}

'''Orlando Tive''' "'''Baby Lane'''" '''Anderson''' (August 13, 1974 – May 29, 1998) was an American gang member suspected in the murder of Tupac Shakur. Anderson had alleged affiliations to the California-based gang known as the South Side Compton Crips. Detective Tim Brennan of the Compton Police Department filed an affidavit naming Anderson as a suspect; he denied involvement and was never charged. Anderson's uncle, Duane Keith Davis, was charged with Shakur's murder on September 29, 2023.<ref name="cnn">{{cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/29/us/tupac-shakur-murder-suspect-arrested/index.html |title=Suspect arrested in 1996 Tupac Shakur shooting death |last1=Lah |first1=Kyung |last2=Sottile |first2=Zoe |website=CNN |date=September 29, 2023 |access-date=October 1, 2023}}</ref>

Anderson was shot and killed in an unrelated gang shootout in May 1998, at the age of 23.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-30-me-54748-story.html|title=Possible Suspect in Tupac Shakur Death Killed in Shootout|first1=Eric|last1=Malnic|first2=Chuck|last2=Philips|date=May 30, 1998|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

== Early life and education == Orlando Tive Anderson was born on August 13, 1974, in Compton, California. He was raised primarily by his grandparents, after his parents separated. His mother worked as a bookkeeper to support the family.<ref name="Who shot Tupac">{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Jim |date=2022-06-09 |title=Orlando Anderson - "the man who shot Tupac" |url=https://history.hiphop/orlando-anderson-the-man-who-shot-tupac/ |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=The Hip Hop Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>

At 16, Anderson joined the Southside Compton Crips.

Anderson attended Taft High School and later graduated from Manuel Dominguez High School. During high school, he met Rasheena Smith; the couple had four children.<ref name="Who shot Tupac"/>

== Murder of Tupac Shakur == {{main|Murder of Tupac Shakur}} In July 1996, Anderson was involved in an altercation at Lakewood Mall, where he and several associates allegedly assaulted Trevon Lane, an employee of Death Row Records, and attempted to steal his Death Row medallion. Rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Death Row Records associates (who were largely affiliated with the Mob Piru was a known catalyst for the tension.

On September 7, 1996, after the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Lane spotted Anderson in the hotel lobby and informed Shakur. Security footage captured Shakur and his entourage attacking Anderson. The shooting of Shakur occurred approximately three hours later.

In the immediate aftermath, Las Vegas MPD homicide detective Lt. Larry Spinosa told the media that Anderson was not a suspect at that time.<ref name="streetgangs.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.streetgangs.com/topics/tupac/1297interview.html|title=Orlando Anderson Interview|date=12 September 2012|website=StreetGangs.com}}</ref> However, Anderson was later named as a primary suspect in affidavits filed by Compton police. He denied involvement in an interview with ''Vibe'' and told the ''Los Angeles Times'' in 1997 that he was a fan of Shakur.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-16-me-32760-story.html|title=Shakur Was His Hero, Not His Victim, Says Man Some Suspect|year=1997|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

In 1997, Shakur's mother Afeni Shakur filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Anderson.<ref name="Shakur's Mother Files Wrongful Death suit">{{cite news|last=Philips|first=Chuck|title=Shakur's Mother Files Wrongful-Death Suit|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-13-me-31739-story.html|access-date=5 November 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 13, 1997}}</ref> The legal battle was reportedly settled shortly before Anderson's death in 1998.

On September 29, 2023, Anderson's uncle, Duane "Keefe D" Davis, was arrested and indicted for the murder of Tupac Shakur. Prosecutors allege that Davis provided the firearm used in the shooting and that Anderson was one of the individuals in the vehicle from which the shots were fired.<ref name="cnn"/> As of February 2025, Davis' trial is scheduled to begin on February 9, 2026.

== Death == On May 29, 1998, Anderson was involved in a shootout at a car wash in Compton, California following a dispute with rival gang members Michael and Jerry Stone. Anderson was struck in the chest and transported to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Willowbrook, California, where he was pronounced dead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-30-me-54748-story.html|title=Possible Suspect in Tupac Shakur Death Killed in Shootout|date=May 30, 1998|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

Detective Tim Brennan later stated that the shootout was the result of a dispute over drug money and was unrelated to the Shakur investigation.

== See also == * List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)

== References == {{reflist|30em}}

Category:1974 births Category:1998 deaths Category:1998 murders in the United States Category:20th-century African-American people Category:Crips Category:Deaths by firearm in California Category:Murdered African-American people Category:Murdered American gangsters Category:Murdered Crips Category:People from Compton, California Category:Tupac Shakur Category:Unsolved murders in California