A jury in Clark County, Nevada, Las Vegas, Jury on Monday found former gang leader Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, 63, guilty of murdering the chart-topping rapper Tupac Shakur in the 1996 shooting. Davis will face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole at his sentencing on October 13. He told the judge “he plans to appeal this matter”. Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang in Los Angeles, was accused of ordering the drive-by shooting that killed Shakur on September 7, 1996. Prosecutors, in the long-unsolved crime, said he was enraged because members of Shakur’s entourage had beaten his nephew at a Las Vegas casino hours earlier. The jury deliberated for nearly three hours before finding Davis guilty of a single count of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, capping an 11-day trial in a courtroom in the city of Las Vegas. After the verdict was read, Shakur's sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, cried and hugged the prosecutors. Also in the courtroom was Davis’ son, who covered his face with one hand. Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors in closing arguments that Davis acquired a gun and “went hunting” for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight after they beat up Davis’ nephew earlier that night. Palal acknowledged that Davis’ accounts of the killing evolved over the years but argued those differences reflected Davis’ changing motivations and efforts to protect himself. One critical detail, he said, remained consistent: Davis repeatedly placed himself inside a white Cadillac from which the shots were fired. The panel of 16 jurors, four of whom are alternates, heard testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defense witnesses over nine days. “The core facts remain. The material facts remain,” Palal said. The prosecution said Monday evening that the state would dismiss the gang enhancement part of the charge due to witness logistics. The trial brought to a head a decades-old case that for years has drawn the attention of hip-hop fans and true crime experts alike. Shakur, who was considered one of the most influential rappers of all time, was in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996, and stopped at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up beside him, and shots were fired. He died six days later from his wounds. Knight was also wounded but survived. For years, nobody had been charged in the rapper’s death until Davis began making public statements, saying he was in the Cadillac and gave the gun to others in the backseat. Davis described the shooting as an act of retaliation after Knight and Shakur’s entourage beat up Davis’ nephew hours before the shooting. Under Nevada law, someone who helps another person commit murder can be convicted of the crime. Davis is the only person still alive among the four men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac. The man who prosecutors say originally gave the gun to Davis is also dead.
