A Las Vegas jury has found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur, bringing the first conviction in a case that has remained unsolved for nearly three decades.
The 63-year-old former gang leader was convicted Monday of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and could face a life sentence. Jurors reached their verdict in less than three hours after hearing nine days of testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defense witnesses.
Davis is the only surviving member of the four men prosecutors say were inside the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired. He had pleaded not guilty and told the judge he plans to appeal the verdict.
Shakur was shot on Sept. 7, 1996, while sitting in a car at a Las Vegas intersection. A white Cadillac pulled alongside the vehicle and gunfire erupted. Shakur, then 25, died six days later from his injuries. Marion “Suge” Knight, the co-founder of Death Row Records who was also in the car, was wounded but survived.
For years, no one was charged in the killing. Davis eventually began publicly discussing his alleged role, saying he was inside the Cadillac and had provided the gun used in the shooting. Prosecutors argued that his statements, interviews and memoir ultimately gave investigators enough evidence to bring the case.
