Former gang boss convicted of Tupac Shakur murder

A Nevada jury deliberated for about three hours on Monday before finding a former Los Angeles gang leader guilty of murdering rapper Tupac Shakur. The 25-year-old rapper was gunned down during a drive-by shooting at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas about 30 years ago. Shakur's former producer, Darryl Harper, celebrated the verdict on Monday and said he still struggled with the rapper's loss. Shakur’s spirit can be free now, Harper said.

Former South Side Compton Crips gang leader Duane Keith Davis, also known as “Keffe D”, was convicted of first-degree murder for orchestrating the fatal 1996 drive-by shooting. Davis pleaded not guilty to the charges in November 2023 and remained the first and only suspect ever charged with the late rapper’s murder.

Police long suspected Davis of the murder, but were never able to act. The cold case gained new life in 2019 after Davis’ memoir claimed he obtained the .40 caliber Glock pistol used in the shooting. Davis allegedly orchestrated the drive-by after Shakur and his friends beat up Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, while leaving a Mike Tyson fight. Davis’ attorneys argued that their client falsified the memoir for fame and book sales and underscored what they described as a lack of physical evidence tying the now 63-year-old to the crime. Davis planned to appeal the guilty verdict, according to the former gang leader’s attorneys.

Dig deeper: Read a 1997 report from the WORLD archives on the music and projects by Tupac released posthumously.