The unsolved murder of iconic rapper Tupac Shakur may finally be coming to a close.
Twenty-seven years after the rapper was gunned down in 1996, a Nevada grand jury has indicted Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the killing, prosecutors announced in court Friday. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo described Davis as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who had "ordered the death" of the rapper as "revenge" following an assault carried out by Tupac and Suge Knight on Davis' nephew.
Davis, 60, was arrested on Friday September 29 while on a walk near his home.
It comes months after Las Vegas police raided a home tied to Davis - who was in the white Cadillac from which the gunfire erupted - where they collected computers, a cellphone and hard drive, as well as several .40-caliber bullets, two “tubs containing photographs” and a copy of Davis’ memoir, Compton Street Legend, a tell-all book that he released in 2019.
He is one of the last living witnesses to the shooting.
Tupac was was struck four times: once in the arm, once in the thigh, and twice in the chest including into his right lung. He was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada where he was placed on life support, but he died on September 13 1996 from internal bleeding.
Today, Tupac is universally considered one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time.
When did Tupac die?
Born Lesane Parish Crooks, and also know by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, Tupac was an American rapper who addressed the contemporary social issues of young African-Americans in the early 1990s.
On the night of September 7, 1996, the 25-year-old was in Las Vegas, Nevada, to celebrate a friend's birthday and to watch the Mike Tyson boxing match. Following the boxing match, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, a member of the rival Southside Compton Crips, was spotted, and Tupac's crew, including Suge Knight, assaulted Baby Lane, as confirmed by hotel surveillance.
At approximately 11.15 pm on Las Vegas Boulevard, a white, four-door, late-model Cadillac sedan pulled up to the passenger side of Tupac's black BMW and an occupant rapidly fired into the car.
Tupac was was struck four times: once in the arm, once in the thigh, and twice in the chest including into his right lung. He was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada where he was placed on life support, but he died on September 13 1996 from internal bleeding.
Who shot Tupac?
Police have never been able to determine who shot Tupac, largely due to the street code that forbids gang members from speaking.
Rumors that Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, one of the leading figures in the East Coast-West Coast rivalry, was involved circulated for years but alibis were confirmed for Wallace and others.
In July 2023 Las Vegas police raided a home tied to Duane “Keffe D” Davis - who was in the Cadillac from which the gunfire erupted - where they collected computers, a cellphone and hard drive, as well as several .40-caliber bullets, two “tubs containing photographs” and a copy of Davis’ memoir, Compton Street Legend, a tell-all book that he released in 209.
He is one the last living witnesses to the shooting.
Who is Duane “Keffe D” Davis?
Davis was a Crips gang leader in California, and Baby Lane's uncle. In 2018 he appeared in a documentary and claimed to have been in the white Cadillac, and specifically in the front passenger seat, with Tupac's murderer when the shots were fired.
He cited "street code" and refused to name the murderer, but claimed that Terrence "T-Brown" Brown and that Baby Lane and DeAndre "Dre" Smith were all also sitting in the backseat of the car; they are all now deceased.
Davis alleged that the shooter was in the backseat. His 2019 memoir he wrote that he had slipped the gun into the backseat, and implicated Baby Lane. Baby Lane died in 1998 and had always denied any involvement in the murder.
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