Duane Davis convicted in Tupac Shakur’s murder

Duane Davis sits at the defense table during a break during closing arguments in his murder trial, related to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. — Duane Davis sits at the defense table during a break during closing arguments in his murder trial

(Image credit: Steve Marcus / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

A jury in Las Vegas on Monday found former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of first-degree murder for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur. During the three-week trial, prosecutors leaned on Davis’ public admissions that he procured and handed a fellow Crips member the gun that killed Shakur. Davis’ lawyer said his client’s admissions, including in his 2019 memoir, were “fiction” to “make money” from Shakur’s murder.

The case “had languished” for years “as important evidence, including the murder weapon, remained missing and key witnesses” refused to cooperate, The New York Times said. Davis “began speaking to the police” in 2008 to avoid serious drug charges, but the plea deal that made him “untouchable” was rendered moot after he “began repeatedly addressing the shooting publicly” under the “mistaken belief that he was fully immune from prosecution.”