A former gang leader has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed legendary rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, bringing a major development in one of America’s most notorious unsolved murder cases.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, was sentenced on Tuesday to two consecutive terms of 20 years to life — one for first-degree murder and another for the use of a deadly weapon.
Davis was convicted by a jury in August and showed little emotion as the sentence was handed down during an hour-long hearing in a Las Vegas courtroom.
Dressed in blue prison clothing and shackled at the waist, he briefly argued with the judge over the amount of credit he should receive for time already served.
When given the opportunity to address the court, Davis asked for the return of belongings seized from his home by investigators.
“I just want my stuff back that they took out of my house,” he said.
Judge Carli Kierny asked whether he had anything else to say before sentencing. Davis replied: “I’m good. I’m going to appeal this case, for sure.”
His lawyer, Michael Sanft, also vowed to appeal the conviction.
Nearly three decades after Tupac’s death
Shakur was shot while sitting in the passenger seat of an SUV driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight on September 7, 1996. He died in hospital six days later, aged 25.
For nearly three decades, the killing remained one of America’s most high-profile cold cases until Davis was arrested in 2023.
Prosecutors said Davis orchestrated the murder to avenge an earlier assault on his nephew by Shakur and members of the rapper’s entourage inside the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas.
The confrontation occurred on the night of a world heavyweight boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon, amid tensions between rival Los Angeles-area gangs.
Davis was the self-described leader of the South Side Compton Crips, while Shakur, Knight and their associates were linked to the Mob Piru gang and Death Row Records.
According to an account Davis later gave police during an unrelated investigation, he gathered his nephew and two other associates in a white Cadillac after the casino altercation and went looking for Shakur and Knight.
Davis said he passed a gun to two men sitting in the back of the vehicle. One of them allegedly opened fire when the Cadillac pulled alongside the SUV carrying Shakur and Knight.
Shakur was struck four times and later died from his injuries.
Although Davis was convicted of masterminding the killing, prosecutors did not accuse him of personally firing the fatal shots and have never publicly identified a suspected gunman. Under Nevada law, a person can be convicted of murder for participating in a crime even if they did not pull the trigger.
The three other men who were in the Cadillac that night have since died.
Tupac’s sister delivers emotional statement
During Tuesday’s hearing, Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, 51, delivered a tearful victim-impact statement about her brother’s life and the loss suffered by their family.
She told the court that their mother had raised Tupac to become a human rights activist and encouraged him to believe he could make the world a better place.
“He believed her,” Sekyiwa said. “He went out in the world to do that. And I believe he would have done it.”
Judge Kierny also rejected Davis’ assertions that he had changed since the 1990s and moved on from his past.
“You don’t get to take a man from his family,” she said, referring to Shakur. “The world never forgot about him.”
Shakur became one of hip-hop’s most influential and commercially successful artists, known for lyrics exploring violence, poverty, sex and life in disadvantaged communities.
His fourth studio album, All Eyez on Me, was released months before his death. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
The case also became closely associated with the bitter East Coast-West Coast rivalry that marked 1990s hip-hop culture.
Davis’ conviction marks a significant legal milestone in the case, although the identity of the person who fired the fatal shots remains unresolved.
