Nearly three decades after the murder of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur, former gang figure Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis has been found guilty.
On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur, then 25, was in Las Vegas when he was killed in a drive-by shooting.
He was in the passenger’s seat of a BMW in a convoy of others when, as they waited for a red light, someone in a white Cadillac opened fire on him.
He died a week later from multiple gunshot wounds to the arm, thigh, right lung and chest.
Now Davis, the ex-gang boss of the Los Angeles South Side Compton Crips, has been found guilty by a jury of orchestrating the rapper’s death.
The 63-year-old was found guilty of first-degree murder in a Las Vegas court.
What happened to Tupac Shakur?
On the night Shakur was shot, he’d been in Las Vegas to celebrate his business partner’s birthday and attend a boxing match at the MGM Grand hotel.
Afterwards, in the lobby, one of his friend’s associates spotted a member of the Southside Compton Crip gang, Orlando Tive ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson and told Shakur he had tried to rob them earlier that year.
The hotel’s surveillance footage then showed an ensuing assault on Anderson.
A few hours later, while driving through the city, a car pulled up to the convoy Shakur was travelling with and shot at the vehicle he was in, striking him four times.
He was rushed to hospital and put on life support, but died of internal bleeding six days later.
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Who is Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis?
Davis, 63, is a former leader of the LA street gang South Side Compton Crips.
In 2019, he co-authored a memoir titled Compton Street Legend, which claimed that he was inside the Cadillac at the time of the murder and was the person who ‘tossed’ the gun used to kill Shakur after the shooting into the back seat.
He maintained that he was not the person who opened fire.
Davis is the only person who was in the Cadillac that evening who is still alive.
Prosecutors alleged Davis was enraged after Shakur’s entourage had beaten up his nephew, Orlando Anderson, at a Las Vegas casino hours earlier.
How the Tupac murder trial against Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis unfolded
The outcome in the murder trial comes just days before the 30th anniversary of Tupac Shakur’s death.
Davis was accused of leading a group of South Side Compton Crips members to kill the star rapper.
It is said to have been to retaliate for the beating of Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson.
Davis is understood to have gone ‘hunting’ for Tupac and music boss Knight, according to prosecutor Binu Palal.
Tupac and Knight were stopped in their BMW at a red light when a Cadillac pulled up next to it.
The 25-year-old was shot several times, and he died of his injuries six days later.
Multiple witnesses linked the killing to a feud between the Mob Piru Bloods gang, which Knight was part of, and the South Side Compton Crips.
Prosecutors have never accused Davis of firing the weapon, and the shooter has not been officially named.
Davis alleged in an interview with detectives that Anderson fired the gun. Anderson died in 1998.
The case was brought against Davis after he went public with his claims and published a memoir. This, and audio recordings of secret meetings with investigators, were the main material used by the prosecution.
What has he been charged with?
The jury found Davis guilty of one count of murder with a deadly weapon.
Davis stood in a black suit as the verdict was read, before saying he would appeal the decision.
Shakur’s relatives held hands and hugged while the verdict was read.
What happens now?
District Judge Carli Kierny ordered Davis, who faces a life sentence, to remain in jail until his October 13 sentencing.
Davis indicated that he intends to file an appeal.