Former gang leader sentenced to 40 years to life for Tupac Shakur's 1996 murder

Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 63, was sentenced in Las Vegas for orchestrating the drive-by shooting that killed rapper Tupac Shakur. The case had remained unsolved for nearly three decades.

Las Vegas court closes 30-year cold case with maximum sentence for Tupac Shakur killing

A Las Vegas judge sentenced Duane "Keffe D" Davis to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday for masterminding the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed hip-hop star Tupac Shakur, aljazeera.com reports.

Judge Carli Kierny delivered the sentence at a Clark County hearing, where she addressed Davis directly. "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," Kierny told the court. "The world never forgot about him and his death, and neither did Las Vegas."

Davis, 63, is a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips and the sole person charged in connection with Shakur's death. In August, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told the court during Tuesday's hearing that whatever sentence was handed down, Davis was "guaranteed to die" behind bars.

Shakur was 25 and at the peak of his career when he was shot on the night of 7 September 1996 in Las Vegas, where he had attended a Mike Tyson heavyweight boxing match. He was travelling in the passenger seat of a black BMW, stopped at a red light, when a white Cadillac pulled alongside and the occupants opened fire. Shakur died six days later.

Investigators said the shooting occurred approximately two hours after a physical confrontation between Shakur's entourage and Davis's nephew, Orlando Anderson. In his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, Davis wrote that he sought to retaliate after Shakur and his associates assaulted Anderson. Davis admitted to handing the murder weapon to two accomplices in the back seat of the Cadillac, who fired the fatal shots. He is the only surviving member of the group who was in the vehicle that night.

For close to three decades, the case had been one of the music industry's most prominent unsolved mysteries. Davis had long been a suspect, but investigators lacked sufficient evidence to pursue an indictment — a deadlock that broke only after Davis spoke publicly about his role. He gave media interviews in which he boasted about his involvement and later elaborated in his memoir.

Davis had entered into a 2008 proffer agreement with federal law enforcement, granting him limited immunity for statements made privately to investigators. Prosecutors argued that by repeating those statements publicly, Davis had effectively voided the agreement's protections. DiGiacomo said Davis had sought to profit from the killing he committed, and that the maximum sentence was therefore warranted.

Members of Shakur's family addressed the court at Tuesday's sentencing. His sister, Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, told the judge, "This man's life mattered," while his brother Maurice "Mopreme" Shakur described the murder as "devastating, heartbreaking and sad."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said after the verdict that the Shakur family had been forced to endure years of Davis "bragging about killing someone they loved." "The arrogance that Mr Davis had in expressing his joy in killing that man ultimately was his undoing," Palal said.

Davis briefly addressed the court, requesting the return of personal property — including photographs — seized from his home during the investigation. When Judge Kierny asked whether he wished to make any further statement, Davis declined. "No, I'm good," he said, adding that he intended to appeal the conviction.

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)