Duane "Keffe D" Davis has been found guilty of murder in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, ending one of the most famous cold cases in American history. A jury delivered the verdict after prosecutors contended that Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, ordered the shooting and provided the weapon.
Prosecutors argued that the shooting was planned as retaliation after Davis' nephew, Orlando Anderson, was involved in a physical altercation with Shakur and his entourage in Las Vegas just hours before the fatal incident. Davis, while not the one who fired the shots, was accused of being the "shot caller" who directed the attack from the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired.
Evidence presented during the trial included Davis' own public admissions of his involvement. He had spoken about his role in Shakur's death in documentaries, his 2019 memoir "Compton Street Legend," media interviews, and a secret 2008 police interview related to the death of Notorious B.I.G. These statements, the court ruled, invalidated a prior agreement that had protected him from criminal charges.
"He's the shot caller - in every instance in every iteration he's the leader of the South Side Crips," prosecutor Binu Palal told the jury during closing arguments. "When you have the shot caller sitting shotgun when shots are fired, there's no doubt he's responsible."
Shakur's murder occurred during a period of intense rivalry between the East Coast and West Coast rap scenes and amidst gang conflicts involving the Bloods and Crips, which were deeply intertwined with the hip-hop industry at the time. The case remained unsolved for 30 years, fueling numerous theories but yielding no convictions until now. Family members of Tupac Shakur expressed emotion in the courtroom following the verdict, with some embracing prosecutors and others crying. Fans of the rapper outside the courthouse reacted with a mix of cheers and tears.