Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for Tupac Shakur’s murder
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Duane 'Keffe D' Davis was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed rap icon Tupac Shakur near the Las Vegas Strip.
The killing, rooted in a long-running gang feud, remained unsolved for decades until Davis began discussing his alleged role in interviews and a 2019 memoir. Davis was convicted of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in August.
Duane Davis sentenced for Tupac Shakur’s murder
Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, stared blankly at Judge Carli Kierney as she imposed the sentence. Even with credit for time served, he will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 100 years old.
He is the only person ever charged in Shakur’s death, and his lawyer said he would appeal the conviction.
“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,” Kierney said. “The world never forgot about him and his death and neither did Las Vegas.”
Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa 'Set' Shakur, said it was difficult to repeatedly hear Davis describe how he hunted and killed her brother, who died at 25 when his popularity as a musician and actor was peaking.
She described him as gentle and kind, saying he had been his family’s protector.
Had he survived injuries that included the loss of a lung, he would have left rapping behind to pursue activism, following figures such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, and possibly entered politics.
“This man’s life mattered,” Sekyiwa said as family members cried in the audience. Shakur’s brother, Maurice 'Mopreme' Shakur, described the killing as “devastating, heartbreaking and sad” for the family and the rapper’s fans.
Davis briefly addressed the court, asking for pictures and other items police had taken from his house. When asked whether he wanted to say anything else, he replied, “No, I’m good.”
Duane Davis’ claims about Tupac Shakur’s killing
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was riding in the passenger seat of a black BMW with music mogul Marion 'Suge Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up at a red light and gunshots erupted.
Shakur was struck multiple times and died six days later, while Knight survived.
Davis wrote in his memoir that he sought retaliation after Shakur and his entourage beat up his nephew hours before the shooting. He claimed he was in the Cadillac’s passenger seat and passed a gun to the back seat, where the shots were fired.
He had spoken to detectives years earlier but avoided prosecution through an agreement with law enforcement.
Prosecutors relied on Davis’ statements to law enforcement and documentarians, arguing that he orchestrated the shooting and supplied the gun. They linked the killing to a rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru.
His defense attorney cited the lack of physical evidence connecting Davis to the crime and portrayed him as a liar seeking to make money. After nine days oftestimony in August, the jury deliberated for three hours before returning a guilty verdict.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs’ name also emerged during the trial. Witnesses testified that the imprisoned music mogul used members of the South Side Compton Crips for security at his record label, Bad Boy Records. Davis alleged that Combs offered him money to kill Shakur and Knight.
