A Las Vegas jury convicted Duane “Keffe D” Davis of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon Monday for his role in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, ending nearly 30 years without an arrest in one of the most notorious unsolved cases in American music history.
Jurors deliberated less than three hours before reaching their verdict. Davis, 63, was ordered held without bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 13 and could face life in prison.
Shakur, 25, was gunned down while riding in a car near the Las Vegas Strip on Sept. 7, 1996, alongside Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight. Prosecutors did not accuse Davis of firing the shots. They argued instead that he organized the group involved, supplied the gun, and helped carry out a retaliatory attack after Shakur and Knight’s entourage beat Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, at the MGM Grand hours earlier that night.
Under Nevada law, a person who aids another in committing murder can be held criminally responsible for that murder.
Davis’ Own Words Sealed the Case
The prosecution’s case rested heavily on statements Davis made about the killing over many years — to investigators, in interviews, in documentaries, and in his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”
Davis first gave consequential details during a 2008 interview with law enforcement, made while authorities were investigating the 1997 killing of Shakur’s rival, The Notorious B.I.G. He told investigators he was in the front passenger seat of a white Cadillac with three other men, including his nephew, when they spotted Shakur and Knight, made a U-turn, and pulled alongside their BMW.
“If we would have been on my side, I would have blasted,” Davis told investigators, according to testimony at trial. He said he instead passed a gun to the backseat.
Davis later discussed the killing publicly on multiple occasions, including promoting his memoir as a way for the public to learn the “real truth.” Prosecutors played that interview for jurors.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal acknowledged that details in Davis’ various accounts shifted over time but told jurors the essential story never changed.
“The core facts remain. The material facts remain,” Palal said in closing arguments.
Defense Called It Fiction Sold for Profit
Defense attorney Michael Sanft urged jurors to reject the statements prosecutors relied on most heavily, arguing his client exaggerated or invented his involvement in the killing for money and attention rather than confessing to a crime.
Sanft argued investigators never independently proved Davis was even in Las Vegas that night, noting the absence of surveillance footage, phone records, or other documentary evidence placing him in the Cadillac.
“They have nothing in this case that says that man was here in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996,” Sanft told jurors, pointing at Davis.
He also attacked the decades-old police investigation itself, citing missing records, questionable practices, and the involvement of multiple law enforcement agencies as reasons the case could not be trusted.
Prosecutors responded that Davis’ own admissions did not require independent corroboration if jurors believed them, and pointed to circumstantial evidence — the MGM Grand beating, the rivalry between the two groups, and testimony about events leading up to the shooting — as support.
What Happens Next
Police had long suspected the shooting was retaliation for the MGM Grand beating but struggled for years to build a prosecutable case. Witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Knight never gave investigators an account that led to charges, and others believed to have been in the Cadillac died over the following decades. A renewed Las Vegas police investigation eventually led to Davis’ 2023 arrest.
Moments after the verdict, Judge Carli Kierny ordered Davis held without bail pending sentencing. Davis raised his hand, said “Excuse me,” and asked for the return of jewelry, a phone, and other belongings before telling the judge, “And I would like to appeal this matter.” Kierny told him an appeal would follow sentencing.
Prosecutors also voluntarily dismissed an additional prison enhancement tied to alleged gang activity, citing logistical issues with a witness, which eliminated the need for a separate phase of the trial.
