The sole suspect in the 1996 murder of American rap icon Tupac Shakur, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, was found guilty of first-degree murder and given a 40-year sentence with a potential life sentence.
Davis was sentenced by a Las Vegas judge on Tuesday, over thirty years after Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, close to the Las Vegas Strip. After less than three hours of deliberation, the jury rendered their decision on August 31, 2026.
Because of the sentence, Davis will be detained for at least 40 years, subject to any applicable release requirements.
During sentencing, Judge Carli Kierny said Davis must face justice for taking Shakur’s life and depriving his family of a future with the rapper.
“You don’t get to take a man from his family,” the judge said. “You don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him, and just walk away from it. Especially when that man is Tupac Shakur.”
Kierny said justice had finally arrived after decades of waiting.
“Took us 30 years, but at this time, you are going to face justice for what you did on September 7, 1996,” she said. Davis had already spent 731 days in custody.
Prosecutors said Davis, a former leader of the Southside Compton Crips gang, organised the killing in retaliation for a fight involving Shakur’s entourage and his nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand hotel earlier that night.
Shakur, who was 25, was travelling in a car with Marion “Suge” Knight when gunmen opened fire. He sustained four gunshot wounds and died six days later, on September 13, 1996.
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Prosecutors believed that Davis organised the attack but did not personally pull the trigger.
Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, told the court that her brother’s death had caused lasting emotional and psychological pain for the family.
“The loss of Tupac, for a long time, crippled my entire family, emotionally and mentally,” she said.
She added: “I spent 30 years without my protection.”
His stepbrother, Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, also described the loss as devastating, saying the rapper never had the opportunity to raise children or watch his nieces and nephews grow up.
Investigators built their case partly on Davis’ statements in interviews, documentaries and a 2019 memoir in which he discussed events surrounding the killing.
The case has also renewed attention on the 1997 murder of fellow rapper Biggie Smalls, which remains unsolved. Allegations Davis made involving music executive Sean “Diddy” Combs were denied by Combs.
