LAS VEGAS, Nev. — More than 29 years after Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in Las Vegas, a jury has found Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the legendary rapper’s death.
The conviction marks the first in the case and brings a major development to one of the most closely watched unsolved murders in music history.
Davis, a former high-ranking member of the South Side Compton Crips, was accused of organizing the September 1996 drive-by shooting that killed Shakur at age 25.
A 12-person jury reached its unanimous verdict after roughly three hours of deliberation following a weeks-long trial in Clark County, Nevada.
Davis had pleaded not guilty.
After the verdict was read, Davis told the judge that he intended to appeal the conviction.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis convicted in Tupac Shakur murder
Prosecutors did not accuse Davis of being the person who physically pulled the trigger.
Instead, they argued that Davis played a central role in organizing the attack, supplying the firearm and helping assemble the group that went looking for Shakur after an earlier confrontation involving Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.
Under Nevada law, prosecutors were able to pursue a murder conviction based on Davis’ alleged role in planning and facilitating the killing even though he was not alleged to have fired the fatal shots.
The conviction carries the possibility of life in prison without parole.
Sentencing has not yet occurred.
How Tupac Shakur was killed
The shooting happened on the night of September 7, 1996, after Shakur attended a Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Earlier that evening, Shakur and members of his entourage had become involved in a physical altercation with Anderson, who was Davis’ nephew.
Prosecutors argued that the confrontation created a motive for retaliation.
Later that night, Shakur was riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle at a Las Vegas intersection.
Someone inside the Cadillac opened fire.
Shakur was struck multiple times.
He was transported to a hospital but died from his injuries six days later, on September 13, 1996.
He was 25 years old.
Knight was also injured in the shooting but survived.
Prosecutors said Davis helped organize the attack
The prosecution’s central argument was that Davis was not merely present during the events surrounding Shakur’s killing.
Prosecutors portrayed him as the person who helped turn retaliation into a planned attack.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal argued that Davis obtained a firearm and went looking for Shakur and Knight after the earlier casino confrontation.
Prosecutors emphasized that Davis himself had repeatedly described his involvement over the years.
Those statements became a major part of the case against him.
The prosecution argued that Davis’ own words, combined with other circumstantial evidence, connected him to the planning and execution of the shooting.
Davis’ own words became key evidence
One of the most significant developments in the decades-old investigation came from Davis himself.
Authorities relied heavily on statements he made during interviews and conversations over the years.
Davis had discussed the shooting publicly and later described his involvement in his 2019 memoir.
He had also made statements during recorded conversations with investigators.
Those accounts ultimately helped authorities build the case that led to his arrest in 2023.
Prosecutors argued that although Davis’ stories changed in certain details, the central elements consistently placed him inside the vehicle involved in the shooting and connected him to the gun used in the attack.
Defense argued Davis was exaggerating
Davis’ defense team attacked the reliability of his statements.
His attorney, Michael Sanft, argued that Davis had exaggerated his involvement over the years and that his stories were driven by bravado rather than factual accuracy.
The defense pointed to what it described as a lack of independent physical evidence directly placing Davis at the Las Vegas crime scene.
Sanft also argued that Davis’ memoir should not be treated as a reliable confession, portraying portions of the book as embellished storytelling.
The defense maintained that prosecutors had not produced enough independent evidence to prove Davis’ role in the killing beyond a reasonable doubt.
The jury ultimately rejected that argument.
Orlando Anderson was long suspected as the shooter
For years, investigators and people close to the case suspected that Orlando Anderson was the gunman.
Anderson had been involved in the earlier confrontation with Shakur and was later identified by authorities as a person of interest in the investigation.
However, he was never charged in connection with Shakur’s murder.
Anderson died in a separate gang-related shooting in Compton in 1998, less than two years after Shakur’s death.
The other men prosecutors said were in the Cadillac with Davis on the night of the shooting have also since died.
Because of that, the identity of the person who actually fired the fatal shots was never established through a criminal conviction.
Why Davis could be convicted without being the shooter
A major issue throughout the trial was whether prosecutors needed to prove that Davis personally fired the weapon.
They did not.
Prosecutors argued that Davis could be held criminally responsible because of his alleged role in organizing and facilitating the murder.
Their case focused on the theory that Davis supplied the weapon and helped coordinate the retaliatory attack.
The jury ultimately found him guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
Tupac’s murder changed hip-hop history
Shakur’s death became one of the defining tragedies in the history of hip-hop.
At the time of his death, he was one of the world’s most commercially successful and influential rappers.
His career had also become intertwined with the highly publicized rivalry between artists and record labels associated with the East and West coasts.
Shakur’s affiliation with Death Row Records, his relationship with Knight and his ties to the Bloods contributed to the tensions surrounding the era.
The murder intensified the already violent public image surrounding so-called “gangsta rap” and became a defining moment in the culture.
For nearly three decades, fans, journalists, investigators and conspiracy theorists continued to debate who was responsible.
Nearly 30-year-old cold case finally produces a conviction
The investigation remained unresolved for decades.
That changed in 2023, when authorities arrested Davis in connection with the killing.
His arrest represented the biggest breakthrough in the case since Shakur’s death.
The subsequent trial placed Davis’ own words under a microscope as prosecutors and defense attorneys debated whether his public accounts represented genuine admissions or exaggerated stories.
After weeks of testimony, the jury ultimately sided with prosecutors.
The verdict makes Davis the first person convicted in connection with Tupac Shakur’s murder.
Davis plans to appeal
Following the guilty verdict, Davis told the judge that he intends to appeal.
He remains in custody pending further proceedings.
The conviction does not resolve every unanswered question surrounding Shakur’s death, particularly the identity of the person who actually fired the gun.
But it represents a historic legal development in a case that remained open for nearly three decades.
For Tupac’s family, longtime fans and the broader hip-hop community, the verdict closes one of the most enduring chapters in music’s history while leaving the precise circumstances of the shooting and the identity of the gunman as subjects of continuing discussion.
Tupac Shakur was 25 when he died.
Nearly 30 years later, the case that captivated generations of fans has finally produced its first murder conviction.
