*To Be Sentenced October 13, Faces Possible Life Jail
*Says Will Appeal Judgment
FORMER gang boss, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, has been found guilty of first-degree murder with a potential sentence of life in prison without parole for orchestrating the murder of popular American musician, Tupac Shakur.
This is the first conviction in a cold case that has intrigued hip-hop fans for nearly 30 years, marked the end of an 11-day trial in a downtown Las Vegas courtroom.
The jury found him guilty 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.
Dressed in a black suit, the 63-year-old stood impassively in the Las Vegas court as the verdict was read, before saying he would appeal.
During the trial, the court heard a recording of a Police interview in 2008 in which Davis said he was in the car from which shots were fired, but did not himself fire the bullets that killed Shakur.
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.
“So what did he do? He acquired a firearm, got his group together, and went hunting for Mr. Shakur,” Palal said.
Police said they long suspected Davis, but did not have enough evidence to charge him until he went public with his story in media appearances and a memoir, which, along with tapes of his
Anderson died in an unrelated shooting in 1998, having denied involvement in the killing of Shakur.
As the verdict was read out on Monday, August 31, Shakur’s relatives held hands, some hugging and crying.
Shakur was 25 when he was slain at the height of his career as one of rap’s most influential voices. He has sold over 75 million records worldwide.
For 30 years, the case remained one of America’s most famous cold cases, spurring countless conspiracies, but never a conviction, until now. Shakur’s friends and family celebrated the verdict outside the court
During the trial, prosecutors said Davis had planned the shooting as retaliation after Anderson was involved in a fight with Shakur and his crew in Las Vegas just hours earlier.
Over the past two weeks, prosecutors played hours of recordings for jurors in which Davis said he was enraged after Shakur and his entourage beat up Davis’ nephew.
Davis and three other men, including his nephew, went looking for Shakur and his record executive, Marion “Suge” Knight, in a white Cadillac on the night of the beating, he told Police during an unrelated investigation.
Davis said he passed a gun to the backseat, and when they found Knight and Shakur’s car, one of the two men in the back opened fire.
Prosecutors have not named the shooter, and the three other men in the car have since died.
Under Nevada law, Davis can be charged with murder even if he did not pull the trigger.
Shakur’s murder happened at a time of intense rivalry between the East Coast and West Coast rap scene and amid gang feuds between the Bloods and Crips, which had deep roots within hip-hop at the time.
His family appeared emotional in court, his sister embracing a prosecutor after the verdict was read, while others sat crying nearby.
Outside, devoted fans of Shakur were similarly crying and cheering. 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.
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.
Davis was a leader of the South Side Compton Crips, a Los Angeles-area street gang that feuded with rival gang Mob Piru, which was associated with Shakur and his record label Death Row Records.
Shakur’s 1996 killing became a seminal moment in rap history and heightened hip-hop culture’s violent image during “gangsta” rap’s heyday, an era defined by feuding between East and West Coast artists.
Davis elaborated further on his role in his 2019 memoir, ‘Compton Street Legend.’ But his book and media interviews voided a protective agreement he had established with authorities that had blocked any criminal charges being filed, with the court ruling his Police interview could be used in the murder trial against him.
In closing arguments, prosecutor, Binu Palal, told jurors to take Davis at his word and find him guilty.
For years, he argued, Davis had been telling people “that he is responsible for Tupac Shakur’s murder” through documentaries, his memoir, podcasts and a police interview.
“He’s the shot caller, in every instance in every iteration he’s the leader of the South Side Crips,” Palal told the jury.
“When you have the shot caller sitting shotgun when shots are fired, there’s no doubt he’s responsible.”
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.
In closing arguments, his lawyer, Michael Sanft, urged the jury to discredit his client as a liar who just told tales to sell books, adding: “There’s no proof.”
“You’re reading a book that is fiction and not fact, but the state wants you to believe that this is somehow a confession,” Sanft said, referring to Davis’ 2019 memoir.
But within hours of the jury being handed the case on Monday, they reached a guilty verdict.
Just before the court emptied out, Clark County District Court Judge, Carli Kierny, set Davis’ sentencing for October 13.
While reading out some procedural steps in the case, Davis appeared to interrupt by raising his hand.
“I would like my stuff,” he told the Judge, mentioning some personal items, including his phone, adding: “I would like to appeal this matter.”
The judge explained that this could happen after sentencing.
