In a significant breakthrough, the last living suspect connected to the 1996 murder of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur has been apprehended. Duane Keith Davis, aged 60 and also known as “Keefy D” or “Keffe D,” was arrested on Friday, marking a pivotal moment in the long-unsolved case.
A grand jury had recently issued a murder indictment against Davis on Thursday, with the indictment officially filed on Friday morning, as confirmed by Clark County District Court documents.
Davis had previously admitted to being present in the car that pulled up alongside Tupac Shakur’s vehicle when the fatal shooting occurred. However, until now, no charges had been filed in a case that has captivated headlines, sparked conspiracy theories, and even inspired songs and movies over the years.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson expressed the significance of this indictment, stating, “This is the indictment we’ve been waiting almost three decades for. Justice will be served.”
Davis now faces charges of murder with a deadly weapon committed to promote a criminal gang, specifically the South Side Compton Crips.
As of now, it remains unclear whether Davis has legal representation. The Clark County public defender’s office has not yet responded to requests for comment.
The indictment alleges that Davis acquired a firearm with the intent of seeking revenge against Tupac Amaru Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight, the head of his record label, Death Row, and an associate of the rival group, the Mob Piru. While the document does not directly accuse Davis of pulling the trigger, it asserts that his involvement was just as substantial as that of the shooter. The indictment suggests that Davis and three other gang members conspired to carry out the murder in a coordinated effort.
In essence, the indictment claims that Davis played a central role in planning and executing Tupac’s murder by “counseling, encouraging, hiring, commanding, inducing, and/or otherwise procuring others to commit the crime.”
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson, during a news conference announcing the arrest, stated, “Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out.”
The tragic incident occurred on September 7, 1996, when Tupac Shakur and his entourage were in Las Vegas for a heavyweight boxing match featuring Mike Tyson and Bruce Sheldon. The murder was triggered by an altercation earlier that night in which Shakur and Knight were involved in a physical confrontation with their rival, Anderson, inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. Davis allegedly planned retribution against Shakur, eventually leading to the acquisition of the firearm used in the murder.
Shakur, aged 25, and his associates were ambushed near East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane by a Cadillac that pulled alongside their vehicle, resulting in Shakur being shot. He succumbed to his injuries on September 13.
Among the four individuals believed to have been in the car involved in the attack, Duane Davis is the sole surviving suspect. Orlando Anderson, Davis’ nephew, had long been suspected of being the triggerman but was killed in a gang-related shooting in Los Angeles in 1998.
District Attorney Wolfson confirmed that his office had been in contact with Shakur’s family, who welcomed the news of the indictment, expressing their satisfaction.
Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, Tupac’s sister, referred to the arrest as a “pivotal moment” and emphasized the need for justice. She mentioned, “The silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community. There have been multiple hands involved, and there remains so much surrounding the life and death of my brother Tupac and our Shakur family overall. We are seeking real justice, on all fronts.”
The revitalization of the case in 2018 can be attributed to statements made by Duane Davis. While the specifics of these statements were not disclosed by Las Vegas authorities, Davis had discussed Shakur’s murder in a non-prosecution agreement during talks with Los Angeles police in a separate drug investigation in 2018.
Johansson explained, “He provides his own series of statements that are very consistent with the evidence that we have obtained.”
In the subsequent year, Davis elaborated on his involvement in the murder in interviews and in his book, “Compton Street Legend,” affirming that he had supplied the gun used to kill Tupac.
Authorities executed a search warrant at Davis’ residence near Las Vegas on July 17, 2023, seeking laptops and other electronic devices relevant to the decades-long investigation. While specific details from this search were not disclosed, Johansson mentioned that the seized items corroborated information obtained through their investigation.
The murder of Tupac Shakur, followed by the killing of Brooklyn rapper Christopher Wallace, known as Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, less than six months later in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, had long been believed to be connected to a rivalry between the two iconic rappers.
Tensions between the South Side Compton Crips and the Mob Piru escalated as the Crips provided security for Shakur’s rivals, rappers associated with New York City-based Bad Boy Entertainment. Shakur began to harbor resentment toward his former friend, Biggie, further intensifying the feud.
Months prior to Shakur’s shooting, a group of South Side members, including Anderson, had assaulted a Mob Piru member wearing a Death Row Records medallion, as testified by a former Compton law enforcement officer in documents released on Friday.
Authorities have consistently maintained that the motive behind Tupac Shakur’s murder was directly linked to the altercation that occurred that fateful night.
This arrest marks a significant development in one of the most notorious unsolved murder cases in the history of hip-hop, offering renewed hope for justice for Tupac Shakur and his family.
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