Former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for orchestrating the 1996 murder of American rap superstar Tupac Shakur.
A jury found the 63-year-old guilty in September of one count of murder with a de@dly weapon over the drive-by sh%%ting that k+lled Shakur in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996. Davis has said he intends to appeal the verdict.
Prosecutors argued that Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, organised the killing and supplied the gun used by his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who allegedly opened fire on Shakur. Although Davis did not shoot the rapper himself, prosecutors maintained that he was the ringleader behind the attack.
Anderson, who denied involvement in Shakur’s m¥rder, d+ed in an unrelated sh%%ting in 1998.
A key part of the prosecution’s case was Davis’ own statements, in which he repeatedly acknowledged being inside the white Cadillac from which the fatal sh%ts were fired.
In a secret 2008 police interview concerning the m¥rder of fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, Davis discussed his role in Shakur’s k+lling under an agreement that protected him from criminal prosecution.
However, his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, and subsequent media interviews in which he elaborated on his involvement voided the protective agreement. A judge later permitted his police interview to be used as evidence in the m¥rder trial.
During the trial, Davis’ defence team argued that his statements were fabricated or exaggerated to sell books and make money.
Shakur was 25 when he was k+lled and had already become one of hip-hop’s most influential artists. He has sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
His m¥rder remained one of America’s most notorious cold cases for nearly three decades, generating widespread speculation and conspiracy theories before Davis’ conviction