Former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been found guilty of orchestrating the 1996 murder of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur, bringing a nearly three-decade-old case to its first conviction.
A Las Vegas jury convicted the 63-year-old Davis on one count of murder with a deadly weapon over the drive-by shooting that killed Shakur on September 7, 1996.
Davis remained largely impassive as the verdict was read in court but immediately indicated that he intended to appeal.
Prosecutors Say He Ordered the Shooting
Prosecutors argued that Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, organised the attack as retaliation after his nephew, Orlando Anderson, was involved in a fight with Shakur and his associates in Las Vegas earlier that night.
Although Davis did not allegedly fire the fatal shots himself, prosecutors maintained that he supplied the weapon and ordered the attack.
Anderson, who denied involvement in Shakur’s killing, was later killed in an unrelated shooting in 2008.
Davis’ Own Words Used Against Him
A major part of the prosecution’s case was Davis’ own statements about the killing.
During a 2008 police interview, Davis acknowledged that he was inside the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired and said his nephew was the gunman.
He later discussed his involvement publicly in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend.
Prosecutors argued that his repeated accounts showed he was the “shot caller” behind the killing.
Defence Called Him a Liar
Davis’ defence team argued that his statements were exaggerated stories intended to boost his reputation and help sell his memoir.
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His lawyer, Michael Sanft, urged jurors to dismiss the accounts as fiction, insisting there was insufficient evidence to convict his client.
The jury, however, rejected the defence and returned a guilty verdict within hours of receiving the case.
Tupac’s Family Reacts
Shakur’s relatives became emotional as the verdict was announced, with some holding hands, hugging and crying.
Fans gathered outside the Las Vegas courthouse also celebrated the conviction, bringing renewed attention to the case that has remained one of America’s most prominent unsolved celebrity murders for almost 30 years.
Sentencing Set for October
Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny scheduled Davis’ sentencing for October 13.
Davis told the judge that he wanted to appeal the conviction. The judge explained that the appeal process could begin after sentencing.
Tupac Shakur was 25 years old when he was killed. He went on to sell more than 75 million records worldwide, cementing his status as one of hip-hop’s most influential figures.
