UpdateFormer gang leader found guilty in 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur
Jury finds Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis guilty of orchestrating drive-by shooting, marking first conviction in decades-old case
A Las Vegas jury on Monday found an ex-gang leader guilty of murder in a case accusing him of masterminding the drive-by killing of legendary hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur, bringing a decades-old cold case to a close.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, was charged in Nevada’s Clark County with a single count of murder using a deadly weapon and had pleaded not guilty.
A 12-person jury unanimously found Davis guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, which carries a potential sentence of life in prison without parole, after nearly three hours of deliberation.
Davis told the judge “he plans to appeal this matter”. Several people in the gallery wiped away tears and hugged a prosecutor as the court adjourned.
Representatives of the Clark County District Attorney’s Office and Davis’ lawyer did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Davis was accused of leading a group of men to kill Shakur, 25, who was one of rap’s most commercially successful and influential artists, in retaliation for the beating of Davis’ nephew.
