The much-discussed 2Pac murder trial has reached its conclusion. 63-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis, accused of orchestrating the deadly 1996 drive-by shooting, has been found guilty. He now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
A Las Vegas jury found Davis guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang. Deliberations took around three hours.
CNN reports that Shakur’s family members in the courtroom “appeared emotional,” and that his sister Sekyiwa “appeared to cry quietly.”
Pac was struck multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Paradise, Nevada in September 1996. Days later, he died at the age of 25.
In the decades since, the shooting, which targeted a vehicle driven by Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight, has generated near-constant attention from the press. Speculation has remained rampant as to what, exactly, transpired on the evening of Sept. 7.
Davis was arrested and charged in 2023. He is accused not of killing the rap legend, but instead of handing the gun to an associate in the back seat of their car and directing him to shoot.
According to prosecutors, the move was an act of revenge because Tupac had assaulted Keffe D’s nephew, Orlando Anderson, just a couple of hours earlier.
Over the years, Davis had claimed responsibility, both in a 2009 proffer agreement to law enforcement, as well as in interviews (including on VladTV) and in his own memoir. His defense team claimed that the interviews and book were done for “entertainment purposes,” and were not true.
Ahead of the trial verdict, a 1995 video interview with Pac resurfaced via CNN. In it, the six-time Grammy nominee was hopeful about his future, namely his multifaceted plans to have a continued impact on culture at large.
“Let's start part two of 2Pac's life,” he said at the time. “I’m only 24. You know, the world has just begun.”
Davis is set to be sentenced on October 13. He will be held without bond until that date.
