After 30 years, Tupac Shakur has finally gotten his justice after murder suspect Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former Los Angeles gang leader, was found guilty for the 1996 murder of the chart-topping rapper.
A Las Vegas jury deliberated for only a few hours before finding Davis, 63, guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon.
How the trial finally delivered a guilty verdict
During Monday’s trial, prosecutor Binu Palal stated during his closing arguments that “Duane Davis, in the culture of gangs, could not let that stand.”
And so he acquired the firearm, got his group together, and killed Shakur.
“Count one, murder with use of a deadly weapon, guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon,” the jury foreperson announced in court.
Davis, who faces possible life in prison without parole, told Judge Carli Kierny that he intends to appeal.
The conviction marks a major development in one of America’s most famous cold cases, a murder that for decades prompted debate among music fans over who killed Shakur and why.
A case revived by memoir
Shakur’s murder investigation remained unsolved for decades due to a lack of evidence, but Davis’ memoir, published in 2019, has paved the way for prosecutors to reopen the case.
In “Compton Street Legend,” Davis recounted the night of the murder, saying that he was in the front seat of the white Cadillac involved in the shooting and that he handed a pistol to those in the back seat.
But Davis did not name who opened fire on Shakur.
For years, Davis has been openly sharing his involvement in Shakur’s murder, including in interviews with law enforcement and the media and in his autobiography.
He later backtracked on those statements and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
During closing arguments, Palal also played clips of Davis’s alleged confessions for the jury.
Defense attorney Michael Sanft argued that his client’s confessions were fictional rather than the truth, just to promote his book.
He also argued that there was no evidence implicating Davis in the murder other than his own statements.
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The fateful night of the murder
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was in Las Vegas to watch a Mike Tyson heavyweight fight.
Earlier that night, his entourage was involved in a confrontation at a Las Vegas casino with Davis’s nephew.
Prosecutors said the incident prompted Davis, then a leader of the South Side Compton Crips, to retaliate.
About two hours after the casino confrontation, a gunman in a white Cadillac pulled alongside the BMW carrying Shakur.
The rapper was sitting in the front passenger seat when shots were fired at a red light.
According to prosecutors, Davis handed the gun to someone sitting in the back seat of the Cadillac and ordered that person to shoot Shakur. Shakur died six days later.
The guilty verdict against Davis brings justice to the case nearly 30 years after Shakur’s murder.
With the court ruling, Davis is expected to be sentenced on October 13.
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