A Las Vegas jury has found former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of the first-degree murder of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur, nearly 30 years after the hip-hop icon was fatally shot in Las Vegas.
Davis, 63, was convicted after jurors deliberated for less than three hours. Prosecutors accused him of orchestrating the September 7, 1996 shooting, although he was not alleged to have fired the fatal shots.
The prosecution argued that the attack was carried out in retaliation after Tupac and members of his entourage assaulted Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, during an altercation at the MGM Grand earlier that night. Prosecutors said Davis obtained a handgun and passed it to occupants of a white Cadillac that later pulled alongside Tupac’s BMW and opened fire.
Tupac, who was 25, was struck several times and died in hospital six days later. Davis’ own statements, interviews, recordings and his memoir, Compton Street Legend, were central to the prosecution’s case. His defence, however, argued that his accounts were unreliable and motivated by financial gain.
Davis faces a possible sentence of life imprisonment without parole and has indicated that he plans to appeal. His conviction marks the first in the long-running investigation into Tupac Shakur’s murder.
