A Las Vegas jury has found Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, guilty of arranging the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. The jury deliberated for less than three hours before delivering the verdict.
The case originates in May 1996 when Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, allegedly assaulted Trevon “Tray” Lane, an associate of Death Row Records boss Suge Knight, at a shoe store. On September 7, after a boxing match in Las Vegas, Lane told Shakur he saw Anderson in the lobby. Shakur then led an assault on Anderson captured by security cameras, before departing with Knight for a local club.
Davis, seeking retaliation for the beating of his nephew, then “went hunting” for Shakur and Knight, Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said during the trial’s closing arguments, per AP. Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting later that evening. Davis, who has long been known to investigators, has admitted in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he was in the Cadillac with Shakur’s shooter. He repeatedly said he played a central role in the killing but did not pull the trigger.
In 2023, Davis became the first person to be arrested in direct connection with the killing. He is the last living person who was in the vehicle. His sentencing is scheduled for October 13. He faces the possibility of life in prison.
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