Tupac Shakur’s killer sentenced to 40 years to life in prison nearly 30 years after shooting

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man convicted of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison, nearly three decades after the fatal shooting in Las Vegas. 

Davis, 63, received the sentence on Tuesday after being found guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in August. A former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, he will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 100 years old, even after accounting for time already served.

The case remained unsolved for decades, attracting widespread attention and leaving Shakur’s family searching for answers. Davis eventually drew investigators’ attention after discussing his alleged involvement in interviews and a tell-all memoir published in 2019.

“You don’t get to take a man from his family, you don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him and just walk away from it, especially when that man is Tupac Shakur,” Judge Carli Kierny said while delivering the sentence. “The world never forgot about him and his death and neither did Las Vegas.”

Davis, who is the only person to have been charged in connection with Shakur’s death, has said through his lawyer that he will appeal the conviction.

Tupac Shakur’s family speaks out

Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, described the emotional toll of repeatedly hearing Davis recount how he allegedly pursued and killed her brother at the age of 25, when his career as a rapper and actor was flourishing.

She remembered Shakur as a gentle and compassionate person who protected his family. According to her, had he survived his injuries, which included the loss of a lung, he might have moved away from music and devoted himself to activism, following figures such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. She also suggested that he could have entered politics.

“This man’s life mattered,” Sekyiwa Shakur said in court, as members of the family wept.

Shakur’s brother, Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, described the killing as “devastating, heartbreaking and sad” for the family and the rapper’s fans.

Davis addressed the court briefly, asking for photographs and other belongings seized by police from his home. When the judge asked whether he had anything else to say, he replied: “No I’m good.”

How Tupac Shakur was killed

Shakur was shot on the night of September 7, 1996, while travelling in a black BMW driven by music executive Marion “Suge” Knight. A white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle at a red traffic light in Las Vegas, and gunfire followed. Shakur suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died six days later. Knight survived the attack.

In his memoir, Davis claimed the shooting was motivated by revenge after Shakur and members of his entourage assaulted Davis’ nephew earlier that day. Davis said he was sitting in the Cadillac’s front passenger seat and handed a firearm to someone in the back, from where the shots were fired.

He had spoken to detectives years earlier but avoided prosecution under an agreement with law enforcement, according to the account presented in the case.

During the trial, prosecutors used Davis’ statements to investigators and documentary filmmakers to argue that he had organised the attack and supplied the weapon. They linked the killing to a longstanding rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru gangs.

Davis’ defence challenged the prosecution’s case, arguing that there was no physical evidence directly connecting him to the shooting. His lawyer also portrayed him as someone who had fabricated stories to make money.

After hearing testimony over several weeks in August, the jury deliberated for three hours before finding Davis guilty.

Calls for further charges

The sentencing has not ended calls for further accountability. Rapper Din “Lil Therapy” Malone, a Shakur fan who attended the court proceedings, said justice was “halfway done” and expressed hope that others connected to the killing would also face charges.

“I’ve been grieving for 30 years plus,” he said at the courthouse on Tuesday. “I still got a frog in my throat from crying.”

The three other people believed to have been inside the Cadillac with Davis have since died. They included his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, whom Davis identified as the person who fired the shots.

Sean “Diddy” Combs has also been mentioned in connection with allegations surrounding the killing. Witnesses at Davis’ trial testified that Combs had used members of the South Side Compton Crips to provide security for his record label, Bad Boy Records.

Davis alleged in his memoir and public statements that Combs had offered money for the killing of Shakur and Knight. Combs, who is serving a four-year prison sentence following convictions on prostitution-related offences, has repeatedly denied any involvement in Shakur’s death.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said prosecutors do not currently have sufficient evidence to charge anyone else. However, he has left open the possibility of further charges if additional evidence emerges.

“While no amount of time in prison can bring Tupac back, we hope this sentencing brings some measure of closure and peace to his family after nearly 30 years,” Wolfson said in a statement. He added that the case “is a reminder that no matter how much time passes, our commitment to seeking justice never wavers.”