Duane “Keffe D” Davis will spend 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder in Las Vegas. A jury convicted the 63-year-old former gang leader of first-degree murder in August. On Tuesday, a judge imposed two consecutive terms of 20 years to life for murder and using a deadly weapon.
Davis showed little emotion during the sentencing hearing but briefly argued over credit for time already served. He asked the court to return belongings that investigators seized from his home. He also vowed to appeal the conviction, and his lawyer, Michael Sanft, confirmed plans to challenge the verdict.
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Shakur’s murder remained one of America’s most notorious cold cases for nearly three decades. The rapper was sitting in an SUV driven by music executive Marion “Suge” Knight when a gunman opened fire. Shakur suffered four gunshot wounds and died in hospital six days later, aged 25. His album All Eyez on Me strengthened his influence, and he entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
During the hearing, Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, delivered an emotional statement about her brother’s life and ambitions. She said their mother raised him to become a human rights activist and taught him to believe he could improve the world. Judge Carli Kierny told Davis that his claims of personal change did not erase the harm he caused. She added that Shakur’s family and the world had never forgotten him.
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Prosecutors said Davis planned the killing to avenge a fight involving his nephew and Shakur’s entourage at the MGM Grand casino on September 7, 1996. The clash followed a heavyweight boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon and involved rival Los Angeles-area gangs. Davis later told investigators that he rode in a white Cadillac with three associates and handed a gun to passengers in the back seat. One passenger allegedly opened fire when they caught up with Shakur and Knight’s vehicle in traffic.
Authorities convicted Davis for orchestrating the murder, but they have never conclusively identified the shooter. Nevada law allows prosecutors to charge someone who helped carry out a killing, even if that person did not fire the weapon. Davis remains the only person charged in Shakur’s death, while the three other men in the Cadillac have since died. The case continues to cast a long shadow over hip-hop’s violent rivalries of the 1990s.