A Las Vegas jury has found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty orchestrating the killing of influential rapper/actor Tupac Shakur, nearly 30 deaths since his death.
The 63-year-old former leader of the South Side Compton Crips was convicted Monday (August 31) of a single count of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon. With sentencing scheduled for a later date, Davis could face life in prison.
The jury deliberated for three hours, following a two-week-long trial at the Clark County District Court Regional Justice Center.
After years and years of investigating, Shakur’s murder turned into a cold case until Davis admitted to and described the killing in his 2019 memoir Compton Street Legend.
Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting in Paradise, Nevada on September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand hotel. At the time he was riding in a car with his Death Row Records label boss Suge Knight, when a white Cadillac pulled up beside them at a red light on Flamingo Road and opened fire. Shakur was struck four times and eventually died from his injuries six days later on September 13 at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. He was 25.
The confrontation was the result of a reportedly long-standing feud between the South Side Compton Crips, who Davis was leading at the time, and the Mob Piru Bloods, a gang with ties to Shakur and Knight.
In his closing arguments, Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis “went hunting” for Shakur and Knight following an altercation earlier that night in which the two men had assaulted Davis’ nephew. Davis is the only person still alive among the four men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac at the time of the shooting.
While prosecutors explained that Davis did not pull the trigger, evidence demonstrated that he ordered the hit on Shakur and Knight, instructing his disciples, including his nephew, to see it through.
“He is responsible of the murder of Tupac Shakur,” Palal said to the jury. “Tell him you hear him. Find him guilty.”
Once the verdict was read, Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, appeared emotional, crying tears and hugging the prosecution team.
The judge ordered for Davis to be held without bail. The convicted said he plans to appeal after his sentencing.