After 30 years, court names culprit in murder of Tupac Shakur — one of the most influential rappers in history
A jury in Las Vegas found 63-year-old Duane "Keefe D" Davis guilty of the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, one of the most famous artists in hip-hop history. Shakur was shot in 1996, but an accused in his murder only appeared 27 years later. Davis now faces life imprisonment, writes BBC.
Tupac Shakur was 25 years old when on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas, the car he was riding in with Death Row Records label head Marion "Suge" Knight was shot at. A white Cadillac stopped next to their BMW at a traffic light, from which shots were fired. Shakur sustained serious injuries and and died in hospital on September 13. Knight survived.
The murder of one of the most famous rappers of the 1990s remained unsolved for decades.
According to the prosecution, the attack was revenge for a fight that had occurred shortly before the shooting. Shakur and people from his entourage beat Orlando Anderson at a casino — Duane Davis's nephew and a member of the South Side Compton Crips gang.
Prosecutors claimed that after this, Davis obtained a handgun, gathered three other men, and went looking for Shakur. When they found his car, Davis, according to the prosecution, handed the weapon to the back seat of the Cadillac, after which one of the men opened fire.
Who exactly shot Tupac, the investigation never established.
In memoirs published in 2019, Davis wrote that he was in the Cadillac from which Shakur was shot, and handed the gun to a person in the back seat. He also repeatedly spoke about the murder in interviews, podcasts, and documentaries.
These statements became a crucial part of the prosecution's evidence. Police claim they had suspected Davis for a long time, but previously lacked sufficient evidence to file charges. He was arrested in 2023 — 27 years after the rapper's murder.
The defense insisted that Davis's stories were exaggerated for fame and book sales. He himself pleaded not guilty and, after the verdict, stated that he intends to appeal it.
It took the jury about three hours to find Davis guilty of first-degree murder with a weapon. He faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The sentence is scheduled to be announced on October 13.
Davis remains the only living one of the four men who, according to the investigation, were in the Cadillac. His nephew Orlando Anderson died in a shootout in 1998, and two other men also passed away.
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