Duane "Keffe D" Davis Sentenced to 40 Years for Tupac Shakur's Murder
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Ex-gang boss Duane "Keffe D" Davis sentenced to 40 years for orchestrating Tupac Shakur's murder
Image source: Getty Images
By Sareen Habeshian
Reporting from Los Angeles
Published 13 minutes ago
Former gang boss Duane "Keffe D" Davis has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for orchestrating the murder of Tupac Shakur.
A jury found Davis guilty in September of one count of murder with a deadly weapon for the rap superstar's death in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. He has said he will appeal the verdict.
The 63-year-old gang boss' conviction was the first in a cold case that has intrigued hip-hop fans for nearly 30 years.
Prosecutors argued that although Davis did not fire the gun himself, he was the ringleader of the group that committed the murder. He admitted in his memoir that he had provided the gun used in the crime.
Image source: Reuters
Image caption: A 1996 photo of rapper Tupac Shakur (L) and Marion "Suge" Knight displayed during the murder trial
The key evidence in the case were Davis' own words, in which he repeatedly and publicly acknowledged being inside the white Cadillac from where the deadly shots were fired.
In exchange for being shielded from criminal prosecution, he had told authorities about his role in Shakur's death during a secret 2008 police interview related to the death of fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace, who was killed in a shooting just months after Shakur.
Davis elaborated further on his role in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, which led to publicity and media interviews. But the book and interviews he offered elaborating on his role in Shakur's killing voided a protective agreement he had established with authorities that had blocked any criminal charges from being filed. A judge then allowed his police interview to be used in the murder trial against him.
Shakur was 25 years old and at the height of his career as one of rap's most influential voices at the time of his death. He has sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
For three decades, the investigation into his killing remained one of America's most famous cold cases, spurring countless conspiracies - until the conviction of Davis last month.
Throughout the trial, Davis' defence team tried to persuade jurors that his comments were fiction - bravado and exaggeration intended to sell books and make money.
Prosecutors argued that although Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, did not himself fire the gun, he ordered the shooting and supplied the gun that his nephew Orlando Anderson used to open fire. Anderson died in an unrelated shooting in 1998, having denied involvement in the killing of Shakur.