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Tupac murder | Ex-gang leader Keffe D found guilty of the 1996 murder

todaySeptember 1, 2026 10

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Image credit: 2Pac/Instagram

Nearly three decades after the Hip-Hop industry suffered a major loss, the conviction of former gang leader, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, in connection with the murder of Tupac Shakur, has come as no surprise to many, with some social media users saying that he effectively asked for it. 

A Las Vegas jury found the 63-year-old, a former leader of the Southside Crips, guilty of murder with the use of a deadly weapon over the drive-by shooting that killed the rap icon. 

The Monday verdict has reignited online debate, with some social media users arguing that Davis effectively confessed to his involvement through years of public interviews and his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend”.

In the book, the former gangster detailed how he and three others travelled through Las Vegas in a Cadillac looking for Shakur and Death Row Records boss, Marion “Suge” Knight, following an earlier confrontation. He wrote that once they spotted the pair, “the sh*t was about to go down”.

Despite the defence’s attempt to portray the remarks as an effort by Davis to make it more marketable, his written account ultimately played a central role in the case.

Prosecutors argued that Davis ordered the attack and supplied the gun used by his nephew, Orlando Anderson, following a fight with Shakur hours earlier on the fateful day. 

Shakur, who was attending a Mike Tyson heavyweight fight, was 25 when he was fatally shot in a hail of bullets in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996. A white Cadillac pulled up alongside the BMW in which he was travelling in before shots were fired.  

The “Dear Mama” hitmaker was at the height of his career when he was killed, having accumulated six Grammy Award nominations. His legacy has continued beyond his death, with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame posthumously inducting him in 2017. 

Davis faces a possible life sentence without parole and is expected to be sentenced in October 2026. 

The verdict brings an end to years of speculation and conspiracy theories surrounding the case, although Davis says he plans to appeal.

Written by: Realeboga Nke

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