A rare conviction has finally brought a major development in the long-running case surrounding Tupac Shakur's 1996 killing. A Las Vegas jury found Duane Keith Davis, known as Keffe D, guilty of first-degree murder after deliberating for around three hours. Prosecutors accused Davis of helping organise the shooting after tensions between rival gangs escalated alongside the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud. Shakur was shot while travelling in a BMW with Death Row Records boss Marion ‘Suge’ Knight after a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas. Davis, who has repeatedly discussed the killing publicly, is due to be sentenced in October.
Duane Davis Found Guilty
The 63-year-old Davis was convicted at Clark County District Court after a three-week trial. The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting that killed Shakur in September 1996. Family members present in court embraced after the verdict, with several visibly emotional. Davis remained largely expressionless but appeared agitated. He told the judge that he intended to appeal.
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Davis is scheduled to be sentenced on October 13 and could face life imprisonment. Prosecutors presented him as a senior figure among a group of Compton Crips who wanted retaliation after Orlando Anderson, a fellow Crips member, was attacked at the MGM Grand following the Mike Tyson fight.
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Shakur and Knight were identified among those involved in the confrontation. Prosecutors said Davis subsequently obtained a .40-calibre Glock and joined others in a white Cadillac as they searched for Shakur.
What Happened On The Night
Shakur was riding in the passenger seat of Knight's black BMW when the group spotted them on a Las Vegas road. According to Davis's earlier accounts to police, the Cadillac made a U-turn and pulled alongside the BMW. Gunfire followed, striking the BMW several times. Knight suffered a graze to his head, while Shakur was hit four times. He was taken to hospital and died several days later at the age of 25.
Ingrid Stokes, who was in a nearby vehicle, described the shooting during her testimony. “All hell broke loose,” she told jurors. Former police officer Garry Dale, who accompanied Shakur in the ambulance, said he asked the rapper to identify the attackers. According to Dale, Shakur replied, “We’ll take care of it.”
The identity of the person who actually fired the fatal shots has remained disputed. Orlando Anderson was long suspected, while another account pointed to Deandrae Smith. Both men are dead, leaving Davis as the only surviving person who was reportedly inside the Cadillac that night.
Davis's Own Words Became Key Evidence
The prosecution's case relied heavily on statements Davis had made over several years. He spoke to investigators beginning in 2008 and later discussed the shooting in documentaries, podcasts and interviews. His 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, also contained detailed accounts of the events.
The memoir's introduction described him as “one of the only living eyewitnesses to Tupac’s killing”. Davis was eventually arrested and charged with murder in 2023. His defence argued that prosecutors were relying on inconsistent statements rather than solid evidence. Davis did not take the witness stand.
Prosecutors, however, played more than eight hours of recorded interviews for the jury. Marc DiGiacomo, one of the prosecutors, argued that Davis had repeatedly acknowledged his involvement over the years. “Mr. Davis is attempting to escape responsibility for a crime everybody knows he committed — even him,” DiGiacomo said in court on Monday, adding that Davis had admitted to it “seven or eight times over the course of 30 years.”
Davis's lawyer Michael Sanft questioned whether there was enough evidence placing his client in Las Vegas that night, asking, “What facts do they have to even put Keffe D in a car in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996? What facts?” The conviction marks a major turning point in one of hip-hop's most closely followed murder cases, which remained unresolved for almost three decades.