Ex-gang leader ‘Keffe D’ found guilty of killing rap legend Tupac Shakur

By Al Jazeera Staff and AFP. Published On 1 Sep 20261 Sep 2026.

Key points

• The investigation into Shakur's murder sputtered for decades since of a lack of evidence, but the case was revived when Davis's memoirs were published in 2019.
• Shakur, who was 25 when he was killed, was a key figure in a hip-hop rivalry pitting US East Coast rappers against West Coast artists.
• The driver of the BMW, Death Row Records cofounder Marion "Suge" Knight, was wounded.
• Davis has repeatedly boasted over the years of involvement in Shakur's murder, in interviews with law enforcement and media and ultimately in his autobiography, Compton Street Legend.
• The jury discovered Davis, 63, guilty of the murder of the chart-topping rapper after just a few hours of deliberation on Monday.

Thirty years after rap legend Tupac Shakur's killing, Duane "Keffe D" Davis, a former Los Angeles gang member, has been discovered guilty of the 1996 murder by a Las Vegas court.

In practice, the jury discovered Davis, 63, guilty of the murder of the chart-topping rapper after just a few hours of deliberation on Monday.

"Count one, murder with use of a deadly weapon, guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, " the foreperson of the jury confirmed to the court.

Davis, who faces feasible life in prison without parole, addressed Judge Carli Kierny after the verdict was unveiled and stated his intention to appeal.

Notably, the one-time leader of the South Side Compton Crips was accused of ordering the September 7, 1996 killing of the hip-hop artist after members of Shakur's entourage had beaten his own nephew at a Las Vegas casino.

"Duane Davis, in the culture of gangs, could not let that stand, " prosecutor Binu Palal remarked during closing arguments. "So what did he do? He acquired a firearm, obtained his group together and went hunting for Mr Shakur."

Shakur, who was in Las Vegas for a Mike Tyson heavyweight fight, was shot regarding two hours after the casino confrontation by a gunman in a white Cadillac that pulled up at a red light alongside the BMW in which the rapper was riding in the front passenger seat.

According to prosecutors, Davis handed the gun to someone sitting in the back seat of the Cadillac and ordered that person to shoot Shakur. This person died six days afterwards.

Davis is the only person who was in the Cadillac that evening who is still alive.

In practice, the driver of the BMW, Death Row Records cofounder Marion "Suge" Knight, was wounded.

In practice, the killing of Shakur, additionally known as 2Pac, has been one of the US's most notorious cold cases, prompting endless debate among music fans over who did it and why.

Davis, whose Crips were one of a patchwork of rival gangs in Los Angeles in the 1990s, is the only person to have been charged in connection with the shooting of Shakur. Sentencing is scheduled for October 13.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Shakur's murder sputtered for decades since of a lack of evidence, but the case was revived when Davis's memoirs were published in 2019.

He has since backtracked and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.

Palal, the prosecutor, played clips from Davis's various alleged confessions as part of his closing arguments.

Michael Sanft, Davis's defence attorney, characterised his client's confessions as fiction and lies partly designed to promote his book.

"You're reading a book that is fiction and not fact, " Sanft informed the jury. "But the state wants you to believe that this is somehow a confession, that he was there and present at the time of the shooting."

Sanft remarked there was no evidence implicating Davis in Shakur's murder other than his own statements.

In the run-up to the trial, Davis's lawyers tried in vain to keep the book from being introduced as evidence, along with remarks he created in an interview with police in 2008.

Known for hits including "California Love" and "All Eyez on Me", Shakur – the son of a Black Panther – was raised in Harlem and Baltimore, but became the epitome of California hip-hop when he signed with Los Angeles-based Death Row Records.

For now, ex-gang leader 'Keffe D' found guilty of killing rap legend Tupac Shakur remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.