Key facts
- Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 63, was convicted of orchestrating Tupac Shakur's 1996 murder.
- Davis faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.
- The conviction stems from a casino brawl that escalated into the fatal shooting.
- Davis admitted to passing a gun to associates in a Cadillac who then fired into Shakur's vehicle.
- Shakur was struck four times and died six days later.
- The question of who fired the fatal shots remains officially undecided.
Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 63, was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in Las Vegas for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur. Davis was found guilty of first-degree murder in August, marking the sole prosecution in the long-unsolved case.
Davis faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole and has stated his intention to appeal the conviction. The killing of Shakur, who was shot dead in the passenger seat of an SUV driven by record executive Marion "Suge" Knight, had remained one of America's most notorious cold cases for nearly three decades.
The murder of the 25-year-old artist intensified the perception of violence in 1990s hip-hop culture and fueled the East Coast-West Coast rap feud. While Davis was convicted for masterminding the murder to avenge a casino brawl involving his nephew, the identity of the individual who fired the shots has never been definitively determined.
The casino clash on September 7, 1996, at the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip, stemmed from animosity between the South Side Compton Crips, led by Davis, and the Mob Piru, associated with Shakur and Death Row Records. Both groups were in Las Vegas for a Mike Tyson boxing match. Davis later told police he passed a gun to two associates in a Cadillac, one of whom fired into Shakur's vehicle as they pulled alongside. Shakur sustained four gunshot wounds and died six days later. Knight, who was grazed by a bullet fragment, is currently serving a 28-year sentence for an unrelated manslaughter conviction.
Authorities had long suspected Davis' involvement but lacked sufficient evidence until he shared his account in media appearances and a memoir, which, along with recorded meetings with investigators, formed the basis of the prosecution's case. Davis himself wrote in his book, "Compton Street Legend," that he was considered a suspect in the murders of both Shakur and rival rapper Christopher Wallace, known as The Notorious B.I.G., whose 1997 killing in Los Angeles remains unsolved.