DUANE DAVIS SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS TO LIFE OVER SHAKUR MURDER

Duane "Keffe D" Davis has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996. He was convicted of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, with one report placing the verdict in August and another in September. Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told the court Davis was "guaranteed to die" behind bars and deserved the maximum sentence for trying to profit from the killing. Davis remains the only person charged over Shakur's death, and his lawyer, Michael Sanft, said he plans to appeal.

Prosecutors said Davis organised the attack and supplied the gun but did not fire the shots himself, passing the weapon to the back seat of a white Cadillac. Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, had described his role in a 2008 police interview given for protection from prosecution during an investigation into Notorious B.I.G.'s killing. He elaborated further in a 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, which prosecutors said voided his immunity agreement and opened the way for charges. In the memoir, Davis said the shooting was revenge after Shakur's entourage had beaten his nephew hours earlier.

On the night of the shooting, Shakur was travelling in a black BMW with music executive Marion "Suge" Knight when a white Cadillac drew alongside and opened fire. Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later, while Knight survived. Shakur's sister, Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, was present in the courtroom for the sentencing. The case had remained unresolved for nearly three decades until Davis's own public statements led to charges, and his legal team has confirmed plans to appeal.