Las Vegas Jury finds ex-gang leader Duane 'Keffe D' Davis guilty of Tupac Shakur murder

Duane "Keffe D" Davis found guilty of murder in a case accusing him of masterminding the drive-by killing of legendary hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur. (Photo/Reuters)

A Las Vegas jury has 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 with a deadly weapon.

The jury reached a verdict in less than three hours.

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.

Police had long suspected Davis but lacked sufficient evidence to charge him until he went public with his accounts in media interviews and a memoir, which alongside recordings of his confidential meetings with investigators formed the core of the prosecution's case.

Davis' defence lawyer argued his client's statements were mere bravado uncorroborated by independent evidence.

The 1996 casino dispute

During the trial, which began on August 17, prosecutors presented recorded conversations detailing how Davis became enraged after Shakur and his entourage assaulted his nephew at a Las Vegas casino on 7 September 1996.

Davis and three other men, including his nephew, searched for Shakur and Death Row Records executive Marion "Suge" Knight in a white Cadillac later that night.

Davis admitted passing a firearm to the back seat, from which one of two passengers opened fire when they pulled alongside Knight and Shakur's vehicle.

Prosecutors have not named the shooter, and the three other occupants of the vehicle have since died.

Under Nevada law, Davis faced murder charges as a co-conspirator despite not pulling the trigger himself.

Davis led the Southside Compton Crips, a Los Angeles street gang locked in conflict with the rival Mob Piru gang, which was associated with Shakur and Death Row Records.

Shakur's death marked a defining moment in hip-hop history during the height of the 1990s East Coast–West Coast rivalry.

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Source: TRT