Ex-gang boss sentenced to 40 years for orchestrating Tupac Shakur's murder

BySareen Habeshian Reporting fromLos Angeles.

Key points

• Former gang boss Duane "Keffe D" Davis has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for orchestrating the murder of Tupac Shakur.
• Davis elaborated further on his role in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend.
• Anderson died in an unrelated shooting in 1998, having denied involvement in the killing of Shakur.
• The 63-year-old gang boss' conviction was the first in a cold case that has intrigued hip-hop fans for almost 30 years.
• Shakur was 25 years old and at the height of his career as one of rap's most influential voices at the time of his death.

For context, a jury discovered Davis guilty in September of one count of murder with a deadly weapon for the rap superstar's death in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996. He has remarked he will appeal the verdict.

Meanwhile, the 63-year-old gang boss' conviction was the first in a cold case that has intrigued hip-hop fans for almost 30 years.

Prosecutors argued that although Davis did not fire the gun himself, he was the ringleader of the group that committed the murder. He admitted in his memoir that he had provided the gun applied in the crime.

Notably, the key evidence in the case were Davis' own words, in which he repeatedly and publicly acknowledged being inside the white Cadillac from where the deadly shots were fired.

In exchange for being shielded from criminal prosecution, he had informed authorities concerning his role in Shakur's death during a secret 2008 police interview related to the death of fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace. This person was killed in a shooting just months after Shakur.

Davis elaborated further on his role in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. It led to publicity and media interviews.

But the book and interviews he offered elaborating on his role in Shakur's killing voided a protective agreement he had established with authorities that had blocked any criminal charges from being filed. A judge then allowed his police interview to be applied in the murder trial against him.

Shakur was 25 years old and at the height of his career as one of rap's most influential voices at the time of his death. He has sold more than 75 million records worldwide.

For three decades, the investigation into his killing remained one of America's most famous cold cases, spurring countless conspiracies – until the conviction of Davis last month.

Throughout the trial, Davis' defence team tried to persuade jurors that his comments were fiction – bravado and exaggeration intended to sell books and create capital.

Prosecutors argued that although Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, did not himself fire the gun, he ordered the shooting and supplied the gun that his nephew Orlando Anderson applied to open fire.

Taken together, the developments around ex-gang boss sentenced to 40 years for orchestrating Tupac Shakur' s murder point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.