Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the lone person charged in the shooting death of Tupac Shakur, has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison, Tuesday. Davis was facing the possibility of life without parole.
The conviction comes just 30 years after the beloved rapper was gunned down in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip on Sept. 7, 1996. Shakur was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died six days later, TMZ reports.
For years, Davis had been suspected and questioned in the killing, but there was never enough evidence for prosecutors to bring charges. As time went on Davis became comfortable telling his account of what happened the night that Shakur was killed, even going so far as recounting moments from the shooting and describing himself as the “shot caller” role in the infamous killing. Prosecutors allege that he helped organize the drive-by shooting and even supplied the .40 glock that was used to take Shakur’s life.
“I beat the streets, I beat the Feds, and I beat cancer,” prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo quoted Davis’ own words to the jury in his closing argument. “Now, he’s trying to beat 12 of you… Mr. Davis is attempting to escape responsibility for a crime everybody knows he committed, even him… End of the day, hold him accountable for the crime he committed.”
From his own account, Davis, 63, was a Los Angeles gang leader who would leave the gang life behind for the Vegas suburbs. Davis was arrested in September 2023 and charged with “murder with the use of a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang, in connection with Shakur’s murder,” CBS News reports.
He’s been in custody since his arrest and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Davis’ lawyers argued the former gang leader lied about his involvement and that there was no proof that he was in Vegas on the night Shakur was killed.
“The danger in this case has always been, just because we say something, is it true?” Davis’ lawyer Michael Sanft said.
Davis, 63, has already noted that he plans to appeal the conviction.
