Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1996 killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur.
A jury returned the verdict on Monday, 31 August 2026, after deliberating for approximately three hours. The conviction is the first time anyone has been held criminally responsible for the long-unsolved drive-by shooting that claimed Shakur’s life near the Las Vegas Strip.
Prosecutors argued that Davis and his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, targeted Shakur following a fight at 1996 the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson boxing match. Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told the court that the pair “went hunting” for the rapper. Davis was presented as the gang-affiliated “shot caller” who provided the firearm used in the attack.
Key evidence included Davis’s own past interviews and statements from his memoir, which the prosecution said detailed his involvement. At trial, Davis denied the claims and described the memoir as fiction.
The other three individuals reportedly in the vehicle at the time of the shooting have been deceased for many years. Davis remains the only person ever charged in the case.
His sentencing is scheduled for 13 October, where he faces a possible sentence of life in prison without parole.
The verdict brings a measure of legal closure to one of the most high-profile unsolved cases in hip-hop history, while the cultural impact of Shakur’s death continues to be felt decades later.
