Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former Los Angeles gang member, has been found guilty of murdering rap icon Tupac Shakur nearly 30 years after the artist was killed in Las Vegas.
A Las Vegas jury returned the guilty verdict on Monday after deliberating for several hours. Davis, 63, was convicted of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon.
“Count one, murder with use of a deadly weapon, guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon,” the jury foreperson told the court.
Davis faces the possibility of life imprisonment without parole. After the verdict, he told Judge Carli Kierny that he intends to appeal.
Prosecutors accused Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, of orchestrating the September 7, 1996 shooting after his nephew was involved in a confrontation with members of Shakur’s entourage at a Las Vegas casino.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Binu Palal told jurors that Davis responded to the confrontation by obtaining a firearm, gathering members of his group and pursuing Shakur.
Shakur was in Las Vegas to attend the heavyweight boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon. About two hours after the casino confrontation, a white Cadillac pulled alongside the BMW carrying Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight at a red light.
A gunman inside the Cadillac opened fire. Shakur, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was struck several times. He died six days later at the age of 25.
Prosecutors said Davis obtained the firearm and handed it to an individual in the back seat of the Cadillac before ordering the person to shoot Shakur.
Davis is the only known surviving occupant of the Cadillac from that night. Knight was wounded in the shooting.
The murder of Shakur, who was also known as 2Pac, remained one of the most closely watched unsolved cases in the music industry for decades. Davis is the only person to have been charged in connection with the killing.
Confessions brought case back into focus
The investigation stalled for years because of a lack of evidence. Interest in the case intensified after Davis published his memoir, Compton Street Legend, in 2019.
Over the years, Davis made statements claiming involvement in the killing during interviews with law enforcement and the media, as well as in his autobiography.
He later denied responsibility and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
Prosecutors presented recordings of Davis’ statements to the jury during closing arguments.
His defence lawyer, Michael Sanft, argued that the statements were fabricated and were partly intended to generate publicity for Davis’ book.
“You’re reading a book that is fiction and not fact,” Sanft told jurors, arguing that the prosecution had failed to produce independent evidence connecting Davis to the murder.
Davis’ lawyers had previously sought to prevent prosecutors from introducing his memoir and statements from a 2008 police interview as evidence, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
Shakur’s lasting influence
Shakur was one of the defining figures of 1990s hip-hop and a central figure in the rivalry between the US East Coast and West Coast rap scenes.
He rose to international fame through songs including *California Love* and *All Eyez on Me*. Born to parents associated with the Black Panther movement, Shakur spent parts of his childhood in Harlem and Baltimore before establishing himself as one of the most prominent artists on Los Angeles-based Death Row Records.
Davis is scheduled to be sentenced on October 13.
