A Las Vegas court has found former street gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of orchestrating the 1996 murder of American rap icon Tupac Shakur.
The jury convicted the 63-year-old on one count of murder with a deadly weapon, marking the first conviction in the high-profile cold case nearly 30 years after the drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
Prosecutors established that Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, ordered the attack and provided the weapon used by his nephew, Orlando Anderson, to fire at Shakur. The court heard that the shooting was carried out in retaliation for a fight involving Shakur and Anderson hours earlier.
Key evidence in the trial included past public admissions made by Davis in media interviews, podcasts, and his 2019 memoir, as well as statements given to police officers during a 2008 investigation. While defence attorneys argued that Davis made up the stories to profit from book sales, jurors returned a guilty verdict within hours of deliberation.
The trial judge has scheduled sentencing for October 13, while Davis has indicated his intention to appeal the conviction.
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