A Nevada jury has convicted the man accused in the killing of Tupac Shakur, closing a major chapter in one of the entertainment world’s most enduring and closely watched murder cases.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, heard the verdict Monday in a Las Vegas courtroom following a trial that lasted roughly two weeks.

Davis, described as a former senior “shot caller” in a Los Angeles-based Crips faction, is the first person to be held legally accountable for Shakur’s death, which stemmed from a drive-by shooting on a Las Vegas street on Sept. 7, 1996.

Shakur, a defining voice in the rise of 1990s hip-hop, was riding in a car when another vehicle pulled alongside and gunfire erupted. He died several days later at age 25.

Prosecutors did not allege that Davis personally fired the weapon that killed Shakur. Instead, they argued he supplied the gun to the shooter — widely believed to have been his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who was killed in a gang-related shootout two years later — and helped plan the attack.

They came to that conclusion largely from Davis’ own words — he apparently owned up to it while trying to dodge potential charges in 2008, and later detailed the entire plot in a 2019 memoir that ended up leading straight to his 2023 arrest.

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Davis’ defense, however, argued those admissions were pure falsehoods — with attorney Michael Sanft characterizing the memoir as historical fiction, even going so far to compare it to the movie “Titanic.”

“Has anybody seen the documentary called ‘Titanic,’ with Jack and Rose?” Sanft jibbed during closing statements.

But prosecutors argued Davis’ own statements were just the icing on the cake — saying the case was “drenched with circumstantial evidence” placing him in the middle of the crime.

His nephew had been beaten up by Shakur — said to be affiliated with a rival Blood gang — just hours before the killing, which prosecutors argued necessitated a violent response by unspoken gangland rules.

“That was the nature of the gang life in the 1990s in Compton – you had no choice, you could not go back to Compton after being beaten publicly,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said during his closing arguments.

That response was organized by an enraged Davis, who Palal said “got a gun and went hunting for Tupac Shakur.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Former Crips leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been convicted of orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that claimed the life of rap legend Tupac Shakur.

Davis, 63, was charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon, with prosecutors alleging the killing was carried out to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.

When the verdict was announced in court Monday, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, the rapper’s sister, appeared to quietly break down in tears, CNN reports.

Prosecutors said Davis plotted the ambush as retaliation after members of Shakur’s entourage attacked his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, inside the MGM Grand hours earlier following a Mike Tyson fight.

Although Davis was not accused of firing the fatal shots, prosecutors argued he provided the gun and helped set the deadly attack in motion, leading to the death of the 25-year-old hip-hop icon.

In closing arguments on Monday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis acquired a gun and ‘went hunting’ for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion ‘Suge’ Knight.

Palal acknowledged that Davis’ accounts of the killing evolved over the years but argued those differences reflected Davis’ changing motivations and efforts to protect himself. One critical detail, he said, remained consistent: Davis repeatedly placed himself inside a white Cadillac from which the shots were fired.

‘The core facts remain. The material facts remain,’ Palal said.

But Davis’ defense attorney, Michael Sanft, challenged jurors to identify evidence outside his client’s own statements that placed him in Las Vegas or inside the Cadillac on the night Shakur was shot.

He also noted there was an absence of surveillance footage, phone records and other evidence putting Davis there.

‘They have nothing in this case that says that man was here in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996,’ Sanft said, pointing toward Davis.

The panel of 16 jurors, four of whom are alternates, heard testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defense witnesses over nine days.

The trial now brings to a head a decades-old case that for years has drawn the eyes of hip-hop fans and true crime experts alike. 

Shakur, who was considered one of the most influential rappers of all time, was in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, and stopped at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up beside him, and shots were fired. He died six days later from his wounds.

Knight was also wounded but survived.

For years, nobody had been charged in the rapper´s death until Davis began making public statements, saying he was in the Cadillac and gave the gun to others in the backseat. Davis described the shooting as an act of retaliation after Knight and Shakur´s entourage beat up Davis´ nephew hours before the shooting.

Under Nevada law, someone who helps another person commit murder can be convicted of the crime. 

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Davis is the only person still alive among the four men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac. The man who prosecutors say originally gave the gun to Davis is also dead.

Palal told jurors that if they believe Davis’ statements, they do not have to be independently corroborated with additional evidence.

Still, he pointed to the rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru, the fight with Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson and testimony that members of Shakur´s circle identified Anderson and Davis as suspects the night of the shooting. 

Witnesses had also testified to the heated gang rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru, which were associated with dueling record companies Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records.

‘Who fired is not the question,’ Palal said. 

Prosecutors haven’t argued that Davis pulled the trigger, but instead that he was criminally responsible because he provided the gun and ordered the attack.

Palal also argued the shooting was premeditated, pointing to testimony and Davis´ accounts that the group searched for Shakur before spotting him on the road and making a U-turn. 

‘It’s a plan, not an impulse,’ Palal said.

Palal held up Davis´ 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, and played an interview in which Davis encouraged people to buy it to get the ‘real truth.’ Although the book contains a disclaimer saying some facts were changed, Palal argued that names, hotels and other details changed while the central account did not.

Palal also rejected the defense’s contention that Davis fabricated his accounts to make money. 

‘It is an entirely different proposition to be profiting from a murder,’ Palal said. ‘And that is what Mr. Davis is doing.’

Sanft also turned to his client’s memoir during his closing argument. While reading an excerpt, he said the N-word aloud, prompting people watching in an overflow courtroom to recoil and shake their heads.

In multiple interviews, Davis said he handed the gun to the back seat, but in others as well as in his book, Davis wouldn´t say who pulled the trigger.

In a rebuttal argument, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo pointed to a scrapbook Davis kept containing articles about Shakur.

‘This guy’s scrapbooking his murder, for God’s sake,’ DiGiacomo told jurors.

The prosecution’s witnesses included a gang expert who described Davis as the shot caller that younger gang members had to obey. Sanft asked jurors if there was any evidence that Davis had ever called the shots before or after the shooting.

During the trial, investigators said a Las Vegas hotel bill was found at Davis´ residence during a police search, but it wasn´t clear when it was dated – or where that evidence is currently located.

The case is nearly 30 years old, which has affected the kind of evidence presented in court. Prosecutors warned jurors that material collected in the ´90s is different from what law enforcement collects today, including hotel surveillance video from the night of the shooting.

President Trump announced Monday that his administration has reached agreements with nine more pharmaceutical companies to provide lower-cost prescription drugs to state Medicaid programs.

“In total, these agreements are projected to save Americans more than $600 billion over a very short period of time,” Mr. Trump said during an Oval Office announcement.

The new deals fall under Mr. Trump’s “most-favored-nation” drug pricing initiative, a policy designed to bring U.S. medication costs closer to the prices paid in other developed countries. The plan also includes direct-to-consumer sales through TrumpRx, a website launched by the administration in February that offers Americans discounts on brand-name prescription drugs.

According to the White House, 17 drugmakers had previously agreed over the past year to voluntarily reduce prices under the “most favored nation” arrangement.

“With today’s announcement, we now have 26 companies representing 90% of the domestic pharmaceutical market, and the other 10% are also coming in,” Mr. Trump said. “They have no choice.”

The nine new firms that have agreed to offer consumer discounts are midsize pharmaceutical firms, according to a White House fact sheet. They include Alcon, Astellas Pharma, BeOne Medicines, BridgeBio, CSL, Kyowa Kirin, Sun Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals and UCB. 

The White House said the companies will provide access to their drugs to every state Medicaid program in the U.S., “resulting in billions of dollars in savings for Americans.” 

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The companies have also committed to spending $19.6 billion on manufacturing, according to the Trump administration.

Edited by

Alain Sherter