Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former Los Angeles gang leader, was found guilty Monday in a Las Vegas court of first-degree murder in connection with the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. The jury reached the verdict after only a few hours of deliberation, more than three decades after Shakur’s death.
The court announced Davis’s conviction on the charge of murder with the use of a deadly weapon. Davis, 63, who was a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, faces the possibility of life imprisonment without parole. He informed Judge Carli Kierny following the verdict that he intends to appeal the ruling. Sentencing is scheduled for October 13.
Prosecutors argued that Davis orchestrated the fatal shooting after a confrontation between members of Shakur’s entourage and Davis’s nephew at a Las Vegas casino on September 7, 1996. According to prosecutor Binu Palal, Davis felt compelled to retaliate because of gang culture and obtained a firearm to carry out the shooting. The rapper was struck by gunfire approximately two hours later while riding as a passenger in a BMW. The attack occurred when a white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle at a red light. Shakur was shot by an individual in the back seat of the Cadillac; the driver of the BMW, Marion “Suge” Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records, was injured but survived.
Davis is the sole surviving occupant of the Cadillac that night to be charged in the case. The murder of Shakur, who was attending the Mike Tyson heavyweight fight in Las Vegas at the time, remained a high-profile cold case for decades and has been the subject of much speculation regarding the perpetrators and motives.
The investigation stalled for years due to a lack of evidence until Davis’s memoir, published in 2019, helped revive the case. In his book, Davis admitted to being in the front seat of the Cadillac and handing a firearm to those in the back, though he did not explicitly state who fired the gun. Over time, he made multiple public statements and interviews acknowledging his involvement but later pleaded not guilty.
During closing arguments, prosecutors presented audio and video excerpts of Davis’s alleged confessions. Defense attorney Michael Sanft argued these statements were fabricated and part of a publicity effort surrounding Davis’s autobiography, “Compton Street Legend.” Sanft urged the jury to view the book as fiction rather than confession, noting that apart from Davis’s own statements, no other evidence linked him to the shooting. The defense also unsuccessfully sought to exclude the book and Davis’s 2008 police interview from evidence.
Tupac Shakur, a prominent figure in the 1990s East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry, had released several chart-topping albums and was known for hits such as “California Love” and “All Eyez on Me.” Raised in Harlem and Baltimore and the son of a Black Panther, Shakur became an emblem of California hip hop after signing with Death Row Records. He was 25 years old when he died after being shot in the incident.