Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former gang leader, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 drive by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur near the Las Vegas Strip, the Associated Press reported.
Davis, 63, was convicted in August of first degree murder with use of a deadly weapon. Even with credit for time served, he will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 100, the AP said. NBC News reported that the sentence includes a 20 year mandatory enhancement for profiting from the murder, according to Judge Carli Kierny.
His lawyer has said he will appeal. Davis is the only person ever charged in Shakur’s death.
What We Know So Far
The killing went unsolved for decades. The case reopened after Davis began talking about it in interviews and a 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” in which he described himself as a “shotcaller” for the South Side Compton Crips.
On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW driven by music executive Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up at a red light and shots were fired. Shakur, 25, was hit several times and died six days later. Knight survived.
In his memoir, Davis wrote that he sought revenge after Shakur and his entourage beat up Davis’ nephew hours before the shooting. He said he sat in the Cadillac’s passenger seat and passed the gun to the back seat, where the shots were fired. Davis spoke to detectives years earlier but avoided prosecution under an agreement with law enforcement.
Prosecutors relied on Davis’ own statements to law enforcement and documentary makers. They argued he orchestrated the attack and supplied the gun, but he was not accused of firing the fatal shots. They said the shooting grew out of a rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and the Mob Piru, which was associated with Shakur’s label and with Knight. His defense attorney pointed to a lack of physical evidence linking Davis to the 30 year old crime and portrayed him as a liar trying to make money.
The jury deliberated for under three hours before returning its verdict in August.
What Authorities Are Saying
“You don’t get to take a man from his family,” Kierny said at sentencing, adding that “the world never forgot about him and his death and neither did Las Vegas.”
Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal, who cited five other convictions and Davis’ public boasting, asked for the maximum sentence. He said Davis “100% deserves” it, according to NBC News.
Davis, who appeared in court in handcuffs and a navy blue prison uniform, spoke briefly. He told the judge he wanted pictures and other items that police took from his house. Asked whether he wanted to say more, he said, “No, I’m good.”
District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in a statement that no amount of time in prison can bring Tupac back, but he hoped the sentence brings some measure of closure and peace to the family.
The Family’s Statements
Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, said it was hard to hear Davis describe, again and again, how he hunted and killed her brother. She said he was gentle and kind, and the family’s protector, and that had he survived he would have left rapping behind for activism and possibly politics. “This man’s life mattered,” she said as relatives cried in the courtroom.
She also called her brother “born an icon” and said he was a father figure to her and to the wider family. Shakur’s brother, Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, called the killing “devastating, heartbreaking and sad.”
Differing Accounts
The two outlets described the proceedings slightly differently. The AP said the trial lasted weeks, with nine days of testimony in August, while NBC News described a two week trial. The AP reported the judge saying Davis took Shakur’s “whole future,” while NBC quoted her as saying “whole life.” Both put the jury’s deliberations at about three hours or less.
Why This Matters
The case ends one of the best known unsolved killings in American music, and Shakur’s legend has only grown since. Investigators at the time said an East Coast and West Coast record label rivalry fed a feud between Shakur’s entourage and Davis’ associates, and they blamed Shakur’s friends and others for hindering the investigation.
Shakur’s death set off a gang war in Compton, hundreds of miles away, and was followed six months later by the killing of New York rapper Christopher Wallace, known as Notorious B.I.G. No one has been charged or convicted in Wallace’s death.
Questions remain about who else was involved. The three other people allegedly in the Cadillac with Davis have died, including his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, whom Davis said fired the shots. Davis has alleged in his book and public statements that Sean “Diddy” Combs offered money to kill Shakur and Knight. Combs, who is serving a four year prison sentence for prostitution related offenses, has repeatedly denied any involvement. Witnesses at trial testified that Combs used members of the South Side Compton Crips for security at Bad Boy Records. Wolfson has said his office does not have enough evidence to charge anyone else.
Rapper Din “Lil Therapy” Malone, a Shakur fan, said outside the courthouse that justice is “halfway done” and that he wants others charged.
What Happens Next
Davis’ lawyer has said he will appeal the conviction. Wolfson said his office does not currently have enough evidence to charge anyone else, but prosecutors can always consider more charges if new information comes to light.
Reporting drawn from the Associated Press and NBC News
