Keffe D Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder in the Death of Tupac Shakur
Duane "Keffe D" Davis has officially been found guilty in the murder of Tupac Shakur nearly 30 years after the 1996 killing.
On Monday (Aug. 31), Clark County District Judge Carli Kierny announced that the jury had reached a verdict after 90 minutes of deliberation. Once the jurors were seated, the court clerk formally announced the jury's decision of finding Keffe D guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang in the killing of Tupac Shakur.
According to CNN, after the guilty verdict was read, Keffe D briefly raised his fist and looked at the attendees while exiting the courtroom. 2Pac's family members were in the courtroom and appeared emotional as the guilty verdict was read with Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, the late rapper’s sister, weeping quietly.
Keffe D could face life in prison for the first-degree murder conviction when he is sentenced on Oct. 13.
Keffe D was arrested on Sept. 29, 2023, after his home was raided two months prior. Police charged him with murder with use of a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal street gang.
Police believe Keffe obtained the weapon that was used in Tupac's murder and was present during the Las Vegas shooting. The other three men believed to be present during the shooting have all died, including the alleged gunman, Keffe D's nephew Orlando Anderson, who was killed in 1998. Police said the shooting was in retaliation for Anderson being jumped by Tupac and members of Death Row Records following a Mike Tyson fight on Sept. 7, 1996.
Keffe remained behind bars through the trial nearly three years later, despite Wack 100 paying $112,500 of the $750,000 bail in 2024. Judge Kierny ultimately denied Keffe's release after the prosecution successfully argued that the motive behind paying his bail was for him to be in some sort of series produced by Wack.
Opening statements officially started in hip-hop's biggest unsolved murder case on Aug. 17. Throughout the three-week trial, jurors heard from dozens of witnesses including Death Row's former head of security Reggie Wright Jr., eyewitness Ingrid Stokes, former Las Vegas Police officer Garry Dale and more.
Excerpts of Keffe D's 2019 book Compton Street Legend were also heavily referred to in the trial, as it finds him discussing the events surrounding the 1996 shooting, including his claim that Pac reached for a weapon before gunfire erupted from the car he was riding in. Cops have said no weapon was found in the vehicle Tupac and Suge Knight were in.
Keffe D’s defense previously argued that the book should be excluded from the trial, claiming it was fictionalized for profit and questioning which portions were actually written by him because it was co-authored. He's even gone so far as to say he has no idea what's in the book because he's never read it and the co-author just took his story and ran with it.
Judge Kierny ultimately ruled that the statements could be used, finding that Keffe D had adopted the material as his own. She pointed to his repeated characterization of the book as the "real truth."
Watch the Jury Find Duane "Keefe D" Davis Guilty of First-Degree Murder in Tupac Shakur Killing
See Rappers Who Dropped Projects From Prison or Jail
