A Nevada jury found Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, guilty of murder with a deadly weapon for the 1996 killing of rap star Tupac Shakur. The verdict, delivered after a week‑long trial in Las Vegas, marks the first conviction in a case that has haunted hip‑hop fans for nearly three decades. Davis faces a possible life sentence.
Prosecutors said Davis acquired a firearm, entered the white Cadillac that pulled alongside Shakur and Death Row Records co‑founder Marion “Suge” Knight, and handed the gun to a passenger before the shots were fired. They argued his motive was retaliation after Knight’s entourage beat Davis’s nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, earlier that night. The state presented testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses, including a gang expert who described Davis as the “shot caller,” and highlighted Davis’s own statements from interviews and his 2019 memoir, which placed him inside the vehicle.
The defense contended that Davis’s accounts were self‑serving fabrications aimed at profit and notoriety, and noted the absence of surveillance footage, phone records, or other physical evidence linking him to Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. Attorney Michael Sanft argued that the prosecution relied on decades‑old statements that could not be independently corroborated and that the investigation suffered from missing records and questionable police practices.
After the verdict, Judge Carli Kierny ordered Davis held without bail pending sentencing on Oct. 13. Davis indicated he would appeal the conviction. Prosecutors also dismissed the gang‑enhancement portion of the charge, citing logistical issues with a witness, leaving the murder conviction as the sole basis for any future sentence.
