BREAKING: Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis arrested for Tupac Shakur’s murder

The Bay Area hip-hop icon was gunned down on the Las Vegas Strip at age 25.

 

The early morning arrest of Davis, 60, near his home on the outskirts of Las Vegas marks a crucial breakthrough in a case that has captivated the public’s interest for more than two decades. A known figure in the investigation, Davis had confirmed he was in the Cadillac from which the fatal shots were fired during the shooting. He also admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” that he provided the gun used in the drive-by shooting.

 

The first arrest in the case came in the wake of a raid conducted by Las Vegas police at Davis’ home in the nearby city of Henderson in July, wherein authorities were in search of evidence  related to Shakur’s murder, which has remained unsolved for 27 years.

 

Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese denied Davis bail.

 

“It has often been said that justice delayed is justice denied,” District Attorney Steve Wolfson said after the hearing in a brief comment to the Associated Press. “In this case, justice has been delayed, but justice won’t be denied.”

Despite a tumultuous music career that spanned just five years, Shakur made an indelible mark on the world of hip-hop. He sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including the diamond-certified album “All Eyez on Me,” which included the hits “California Love (Remix),” “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” and “How Do U Want It.”

He also found success as an actor, starring in the films “Poetic Justice,” “Juice” and “Above the Rim.” Posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, Shakur’s iconic status endures. In June, the rapper received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“Tupac Amaru Shakur has become a global symbol of rebellion — a symbol as visible and important as Malcolm X and Che Guevara and an inspiration to activists today,” said filmmaker Allen Hughes Hughes, who directed the documentary “Dear Mama,” at the Walk of Fame ceremony.

 

In May, the Oakland City Council unanimously approved the renaming of a section of MacArthur Boulevard to Tupac Shakur Way in honor of the rapper, who considered Oakland his home. In 2016, the city also issued a proclamation naming June 16 as Tupac Shakur Day.

“For 27 years the family of Tupac Shakur has been waiting for justice,” Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference Friday. “While I know there’s been many people who did not believe that the murder of Tupac Shakur was important to this police department, I’m here to tell you that is simply not the case.”

 

Prosecutors said the rapper’s family expressed to them that they “are pleased with this news.”

 

In the course of their investigation, the Las Vegas police seized a variety of items from Davis’ possession. Among the collected evidence were multiple computers, a cellphone and a hard drive, along with a copy of Vibe magazine featuring Shakur. Additionally, authorities found several .40-caliber bullets, two containers holding photographs, and a copy of Davis’ memoir.

 

In “Compton Street Legend,” Davis disclosed breaking his silence on Shakur’s killing in 2010 during a confidential meeting with federal and local authorities. At the time, he was 46 and facing life in prison on drug charges when he agreed to speak with them about Shakur’s killing, as well as the fatal shooting six months later of Shakur’s rap rival, Biggie Smalls, also known as Notorious B.I.G.

 

“They offered to let me go for running a ‘criminal enterprise’ and numerous alleged murders for the truth about the Tupac and Biggie murders,” he wrote. “They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out.”

 

Shakur was feuding at the time with Biggie Smalls, who was fatally shot in March 1997. At the time, both rappers were in the middle of an East Coast-West Coast rivalry that primarily defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-’90s.

Although Shakur was born in New York and spent his youth in Baltimore and Marin City, he credited Oakland with launching his music career after he connected with the East Bay rap outfit Digital Underground.

 

“I give all my love to Oakland, if I’ma claim somewhere I’ma claim Oakland, even if I don’t live there,” Shakur said in a 1993 interview.

 

Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip on the night of Sept. 7, 1996. He was a passenger in a BMW driven by Marion “Suge” Knight, the founder of Death Row Records, part of a convoy of approximately 10 vehicles. The incident occurred as they were waiting at a red light. A white Cadillac pulled up beside them and gunfire erupted.

 

Shakur sustained four gunshot wounds and succumbed to his injuries four days later, marking a pivotal moment in the history of hip-hop and leaving a lasting impact on the music industry and his millions of fans worldwide.

In 2018, following a cancer diagnosis, Davis confessed his presence inside the Cadillac during the attack in an interview on BET’s “Death Row Chronicles.” He said he was in the front passenger seat and had slipped a gun into the back seat, from where he said the shots were fired. “Going to keep it for the code of the streets,” Davis said. “It just came from the backseat, bro.”

He subsequently implicated his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, identifying him as one of the individuals seated in the back of the vehicle from which the fatal shots were fired.

“Orlando rolled down the window, and popped him,” Davis said in a 2019 interview. “If they would have drove on my side, I would have popped them. But they was on the other side.”

The shooting occurred shortly after a casino brawl earlier in the evening, involving Anderson, Shakur and several others.

Davis wrote of the shooting, “I stand firm on the point that Tupac, Suge Knight and the rest of those n— didn’t have any business putting their hands on my beloved nephew, Baby Lane. Period. Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something to their ass. Tupac chose the wrong game to play.”

On the Amazon listing for “Compton Street Legend,” Davis bragged of being one of the “only living eyewitnesses to the deadly confrontation” on the Las Vegas strip.

Anderson denied any involvement in the murder of Shakur. He died two years later in a shooting in Compton.

“Mr. Davis formulated a plan to exact revenge upon Mr. Knight and Mr. Shakur” in his nephew’s defense, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said on Friday

Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating the Shakur killing and wrote a book about it, said he would not be surprised by Davis’ indictment and arrest.

“It’s so long overdue,” Kading said in a recent interview. “People have been yearning for him to be arrested for a long time. It’s never been unsolved in our minds. It’s been unprosecuted.”

Kading noted that Davis is the last living person among the four people — which he said also included Terrence “Bubble Up” Brown and DeAndre “Freaky” Smith — who were in the vehicle from which shots were fired at Shakur and Knight.

“All the other direct conspirators or participants are all dead,” Kading said, adding that he believed that because the killing was premeditated, Davis could face a first-degree murder charge. “Keffe D is the last man standing among the individuals that conspired to kill Tupac.”