Ex-gang boss found guilty in 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur

What the report says

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former gang boss, has been found guilty in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, bringing the first conviction in a case that had remained unsolved for nearly three decades. The verdict was returned in a Las Vegas court, where Shakur’s relatives and supporters reacted emotionally. Davis, 63, said he would appeal.

BBC World News reported that jurors convicted Davis of one count of murder with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors said he helped plan the drive-by shooting and provided the gun, even though they argued he did not fire the fatal shots himself. The shooting took place on 7 September 1996 in Las Vegas, after a confrontation involving Shakur and members of Davis’s group earlier that night.

The case had long attracted public attention because of Shakur’s prominence and the lack of a conviction for so many years. During trial, prosecutors relied heavily on Davis’s own past statements, including a 2008 police interview and remarks in his 2019 memoir, while the defense said his comments were exaggerated stories meant to sell books. Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny set sentencing for 13 October. In broader context, the case has also been linked to the violent rivalry between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop scenes and gang tensions of the period.