The question of “Who killed Tupac?” has plagued the hip-hop community, and the country, since 1996. The 25-year-old rapper was killed in a drive-by shooting at the height of his career, leaving behind a legendary discography, an inspired generation of rappers, and a heartbroken country. After decades of suspects, accusations, and conspiracies, the mystery appears to finally be solved. On Aug. 31, Duane “Keffe D” Davis was found guilty on one count of murder with a deadly weapon for the murder of Tupac Shakur.
On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was stopped at a red light in Paradise, Nev. with Suge Knight, founder of his record label, Death Row Records. A white Cadillac pulled up next to them, and someone from inside fired four rounds from a Glock 22 into Shakur, two striking his chest. Knight was injured in the incident, and six days later, on Sept. 13, Tupac Shakur died from his wounds.
This shooting was incited by the ever growing feud between East and West Coast gangs, which had reached its peak in 1996 amid the public conflict between Shakur and Biggie Smalls. Shakur had previously accused Smalls and Bad Boy Records executive Sean “Diddy” Combs of orchestrating and setting him up for a shooting he was involved in in 1994. Smalls would also be killed months later, in March 1997.
63-year-old Duane Davis was a Compton Crips gang leader in the late 1990s. In a 2018 BET interview, he claimed he was in the car from which the shots were fired. He said in the car with him was Terrence “T-Brown” Brown, DeAndrae “Dre” Smith, and his nephew, Orlando Anderson. Anderson was the prime suspect of Compton Police, but was found not guilty shortly before his death in 1998.
Davis claimed in 2008 that Anderson was the shooter, while prosecutors argued that Davis had supplied the weapon, and ordered Anderson to shoot. Davis also implied in his 2019 memoir “Compton Street Legend” that he had orchestrated the 1996 murder, and that Sean “Diddy” Combs had ordered the hit. He later refuted this in court, arguing that his statements were fictional.
Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson predicted Davis will be facing a minimum of 40 years in prison, not including potential gang enhancements. Davis is set to be sentenced Oct. 13.
