A Las Vegas jury on Monday found former gang leader, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, guilty of orchestrating the killing of hip hop artist Tupac Shakur, following nine days of testimony.
Shakur was wounded in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1996, and died in a hospital six days later at the age of 25.
He was an award-winning rap artist, activist and actor who sold over 75 million records worldwide, many posthumously.
Verdict reached in under three hours
It took jurors less than three hours to reach a guilty verdict in a case that has, up until now, been unsolved for almost three decades.
Sixty three-year-old Davis was convicted of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and could be sentenced to life in prison.
Davis, a one-time leader of the South Side Compton Crips gang, is the only person ever to have been charged in Shakur’s murder.
In closing arguments, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors 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 said that Davis’ accounts of the killing evolved over the years but maintained that those differences showed Davis’ changing motivations and efforts to protect himself.
Palal argued that a key detail remained consistent throughout and that was that Davis repeatedly placed himself inside the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired.
Davis, the sole surviving suspect
Davis is the only person still alive among the four men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac from which shots were fired. The man who prosecutors say originally gave the gun to Davis is also dead.
Police had long suspected Davis of involvement in Shakur’s murder but could not charge him due to a lack of concrete evidence.
That was until Davis went public with his story in media appearances and a memoir, which along with recordings of his secret meetings with investigators, made up the bulk of the prosecution’s case.
Davis told the judge that he planned to appeal the verdict. He had pleaded not guilty to the single count of murder using a deadly weapon.
More to follow…
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
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