— Nearly 30 years after the killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, a Las Vegas jury has convicted Duane “Keffe D” Davis of first-degree murder in connection with the rapper’s 1996 death.
Jurors deliberated for less than three hours Monday before finding the 63-year-old Davis guilty of murder with the use of a deadly weapon. He is the first and only person to be criminally prosecuted in Shakur’s killing.
Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, while riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight near the Las Vegas Strip. A white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle at a red light before gunfire erupted. Shakur was struck multiple times and died six days later at age 25. Knight survived the shooting.
Prosecutors did not claim Davis was the person who fired the shots. Instead, they argued that he helped organize the attack and obtained the weapon used in the shooting. Under Nevada law, someone who assists in carrying out a murder can be held criminally responsible even if that person was not the shooter.
The prosecution described the shooting as retaliation following an altercation earlier that night involving Shakur, members of his entourage and Davis’ nephew. The case remained unsolved for decades before investigators renewed their focus on Davis following statements he made in interviews, to investigators and in his 2019 memoir.
Davis’ defense challenged the prosecution’s case, arguing there was a lack of physical evidence connecting him to the murder and that some of his previous statements were exaggerated. The jury ultimately sided with prosecutors.
Following the verdict, Davis indicated that he intends to appeal. He is being held without bail, with sentencing scheduled for October 13. He could face a life sentence.
The conviction represents a historic development in one of hip-hop’s most infamous unsolved killings, bringing the first guilty verdict in the case three decades after Shakur’s death.
(Photo by JOHN LOCHER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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