Ex-gang leader sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for Tupac Shakur murder
Until Duane "Keffe D" Davis' 2023 arrest, Tupac Shakur's murder had stood for nearly three decades as one of America's most notorious cold cases.
Former Los Angeles gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been sentenced to a minimum of 40 years to life in prison for the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Davis, 63, was found guilty in September of one count of murder with a deadly weapon for the September 7, 1996, drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. According to MyJoyOnline Ghana, Davis has stated he will appeal the verdict.
The trial heard that Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, ordered the killing after his nephew was beaten by members of Shakur's entourage at a Las Vegas casino. Free Malaysia Today reported that Davis handed a gun to a person in the backseat of a white Cadillac and ordered them to shoot Shakur. MyJoyOnline Ghana noted that although Davis did not fire the weapon himself, prosecutors identified him as the ringleader, and Davis had previously admitted in his memoir to providing the gun used in the crime.
The conviction resolves a notorious cold case that remained unsolved for nearly three decades until Davis's arrest in 2023. During the sentencing hearing, Judge Carli Kierny addressed the gravity of taking Shakur's life. Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo argued that Davis had spent years "publicly grandstanding" and bragging about his role in the death of the artist.
Brief written by urgent.news from Japan Times, Free Malaysia Today, Hindustan Times - World News, Japan Today, MyJoyOnline Ghana — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
