A Las Vegas jury on Monday found former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of murdering hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, bringing a nearly 30-year-old case to a close.
Davis, 63, was charged with murder in connection with the 1996 shooting that killed Shakur. Prosecutors accused Davis of helping plan the shooting after Shakur and his friends got into a fight with Davis’ nephew at a Las Vegas casino on September 7, 1996. Davis had long been suspected by police, but authorities did not charge him until 2023. The trial began August 17, with prosecutors playing hours of recorded conversations in which Davis discussed the events leading up to Shakur’s death.
He had pleaded not guilty. A gunman then opened fire, killing Shakur and injuring Knight. The identity of the person who fired the shots has never been publicly established. The three other men who were in the car with Davis have since died. Under Nevada law, prosecutors did not have to prove that Davis personally pulled the trigger. They argued that he was responsible for helping plan and carry out the attack. Prosecutors later used his own public statements, memoir and recorded conversations as key evidence in the case. Davis’ lawyer argued that his client’s statements were exaggerated and amounted to nothing more than gang-related bravado.
Davis and three other men later drove around Las Vegas looking for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight, according to prosecutors. Davis has said he handed a gun to someone in the back seat before they found Shakur’s vehicle. The defense also said there was not enough evidence to prove Davis was involved in the killing.
