Nearly 30 years after hip-hop and rap legend Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas, a jury has convicted former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis of first-degree murder for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting.
Davis, 63, was found guilty Monday after less than three hours of deliberation. He was the only person ever charged in Shakur’s killing and the only surviving occupant of the white Cadillac prosecutors linked to the attack.
Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson fight. Hours earlier, Shakur and members of his entourage had beaten Davis’s nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Prosecutors argued Davis retaliated by obtaining a gun, gathering members of the South Side Compton Crips and pursuing Shakur. “So what did he do? He acquired a firearm, got his group together, and went hunting for Mr Shakur,” prosecutor Binu Palal told jurors.
The Cadillac later pulled alongside the BMW carrying Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight at a red light. Prosecutors said Davis obtained the gun and handed it toward the back seat before the shots were fired. Shakur, 25, died six days later. Knight was wounded.
The case remained unsolved for decades as investigators struggled with limited evidence and uncooperative witnesses. It regained momentum after Davis repeatedly discussed his role in interviews, a 2008 law-enforcement interview, documentaries and his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”
His defense argued those statements were fiction and exaggeration used to sell books. Lawyer Michael Sanft told jurors, “You’re reading a book that is fiction and not fact.”
The jury rejected that argument. Davis faces a possible life sentence, with sentencing scheduled for October 13. After the verdict, he told Judge Carli Kierny, “I would like to appeal this matter.”
