Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been found guilty of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur, becoming the first person convicted in the decades-old case.
Davis, 63, faces a possible life sentence after a Las Vegas jury deliberated for less than three hours on Monday, August 31, 2026, after a weekslong trial in Las Vegas.
Davis was convicted Monday of a single count of murder with a deadly weapon and could be sentenced to life in prison.
After the verdict was read, Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, cried and hugged the prosecutors. Also in the courtroom was Davis’ son, who covered his face with one hand.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors in closing arguments that Davis acquired a gun and “went hunting” for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight after they beat up Davis’ nephew earlier that night.
Palal acknowledged that Davis’ accounts of the killing evolved over the years but argued those differences reflected Davis’ changing motivations and efforts to protect himself, AFP reported.
One critical detail, he said, remained consistent: Davis repeatedly placed himself inside a white Cadillac from which the shots were fired.
The panel of 16 jurors, four of whom are alternates, heard testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defense witnesses over nine days.
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“The core facts remain. The material facts remain,” Palal said.
The prosecution said on Monday evening that the state would dismiss the gang enhancement part of the charge due to witness logistics.
The trial brought to a head a decades-old case that for years has drawn the attention of hip-hop fans and true crime experts alike.
Shakur, who was considered one of the most influential rappers of all time, was in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, and stopped at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up beside him, and shots were fired.
He died six days later from his wounds.
Knight was also wounded but survived.
For years, nobody had been charged in the rapper’s death until Davis began making public statements, saying he was in the Cadillac and gave the gun to others in the backseat.
Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang in Los Angeles, described the shooting as an act of retaliation after Knight and Shakur’s entourage beat up Davis’ nephew hours before the shooting.
Under Nevada law, someone who helps another person commit murder can be convicted of the crime.
Davis is the only person still alive among the four men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac. The man who prosecutors say originally gave the gun to Davis is also dead.
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