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A jury found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of orchestrating the 1996 killing of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur, finally bringing a measure of resolution to a case that had gripped fans and lingered in the public imagination for decades.
The 63-year-old Davis was convicted on Monday of a single count of murder with a deadly weapon and could be sentenced to life in prison. The jury deliberated for less than three hours after a weekslong trial in Las Vegas.
After the verdict was read, Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, cried and hugged the prosecutors. Davis’ son covered his face with one hand.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors in closing arguments late on Monday that Davis acquired a gun and “went hunting” for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight after the men had beaten up his nephew earlier that night.
“He is responsible of the murder of Tupac Shakur,” Palal said. “Tell him you hear him. Find him guilty.”
Prosecutors said that while his story had changed over the years, Davis repeatedly placed himself inside a white Cadillac from which the shots were fired.
The prosecution added that while Davis himself did not pull the trigger, evidence showed he’d called for the gunfire as a powerful gang leader the younger men in the car, including his nephew, were going to listen to.
Defence attorney Michael Sanft asked jurors if there was any evidence that Davis had ever called the shots before or after the shooting. The panel of 16 jurors, four of whom are alternates, heard testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defence witnesses over a period of nine days.
The prosecution said the state would dismiss a gang enhancement charge due to witness logistics. Prosecutors declined to comment following the verdict, and members of Shakur’s family said they were waiting until sentencing, which is scheduled for October.
The trial pointed a magnifying glass to 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 7 September, 1996, and stopped at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up beside him, and shots were fired. He died from his wounds six days later in hospital, while his record producer, “Suge” Knight suffered injuries but ultimately survived.
Sanft, Davis’ attorney, argued there was no physical evidence connecting his client to the shooting. He said the book Davis co-authored and the public statements he made were dramatized bravado designed to make money, not to tell the truth.
In a rebuttal argument, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo pointed to a scrapbook Davis kept containing articles about Shakur. “This guy’s scrapbooking his murder, for God’s sake,” he told jurors.
Palal held up Davis’ 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” and played an interview in which Davis encouraged people to buy it to get the “real truth.” Although the book contains a disclaimer saying some facts were changed, prosecutors argued the central account did not.
In multiple interviews, Davis said he handed the gun to the back seat, but in others as well as in his book, he wouldn’t explicitly say who pulled the trigger.