A Las Vegas judge sentenced Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for orchestrating the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur, bringing a major legal conclusion to a case that remained unsolved for nearly three decades.
Judge Carli Kierny imposed consecutive terms of 20 years to life for first-degree murder and 20 years to life for the use of a deadly weapon. Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, was convicted on Aug. 31 after jurors deliberated for less than three hours. He remains the only person ever charged in Shakur’s murder.
Shakur was shot during a drive-by near the Las Vegas Strip on Sept. 7, 1996, and died six days later at age 25. Prosecutors said Davis organized the attack in retaliation after Shakur and members of his entourage assaulted Davis’s nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand earlier that night.
Although Davis was never accused of firing the fatal shots, prosecutors said he obtained the gun and helped organize the shooting. The attack was carried out from a white Cadillac carrying Davis and three other men, all of whom have since died. Authorities have never conclusively established who pulled the trigger.
The investigation gained momentum after Davis repeatedly described his involvement in police interviews, documentaries and his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” Prosecutors relied heavily on those accounts, while his defense maintained that the statements were embellished to sell books.
During sentencing, Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, described the devastating loss of her brother and called for the maximum punishment. Davis briefly addressed the court to request the return of personal belongings seized by investigators and said he intended to appeal his conviction.
