Duane \u201cKeffe D\u201d Davis was found guilty on Monday of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur, becoming the first person convicted in the decades-old case. The 63-year-old faces a possible life sentence after a Las Vegas jury deliberated for less than three hours.<\/p>\n
A jury found Duane \u201cKeffe D\u201d Davis guilty of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, marking the first conviction in a case that has gripped hip-hop fans for decades. The 63-year-old Davis was convicted Monday of a single count of murder with a deadly weapon and could be sentenced to life in prison. The jury deliberated for less than 3 hours after a week-long trial in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
After the verdict was read, Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa \u201cSet\u201d Shakur, cried and hugged the prosecutors. Also in the courtroom was Davis\u2019 son, who covered his face with one hand.<\/p>\n
Also Read:\u00a0Opening arguments expected in Tupac murder trial<\/p>\n
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors in closing arguments that Davis acquired a gun and \u201cwent hunting\u201d for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion \u201cSuge\u201d Knight after they beat up Davis\u2019 nephew earlier that night.<\/p>\n
Palal acknowledged that Davis\u2019 accounts of the killing evolved over the years but argued those differences reflected Davis\u2019 changing motivations and efforts to protect himself. One critical detail, he said, remained consistent: Davis repeatedly placed himself inside a white Cadillac from which the shots were fired.<\/p>\n
The panel of 16 jurors, four of whom are alternates, heard testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defence witnesses over nine days. \u201cThe core facts remain. The material facts remain,\u201d Palal said. The prosecution said on\u00a0Monday evening that the state would dismiss the gang enhancement part of the charge due to witness logistics.<\/p>\n
A decades-old case reaches a verdict<\/p>\n
The trial brought to a head a decades-old case that for years has drawn the attention of hip-hop fans and true crime experts alike. Shakur, who was considered one of the most influential rappers of all time, was in Las Vegas on Sept\u00a07, 1996, and stopped at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up beside him, and shots were fired. He died six days later from his wounds. Knight was also wounded but survived.<\/p>\n
For years, nobody had been charged in the rapper\u2019s death until Davis began making public statements, saying he was in the Cadillac and gave the gun to others in the backseat. Davis described the shooting as an act of retaliation after Knight and Shakur\u2019s entourage beat up Davis\u2019 nephew hours before the shooting.<\/p>\n
Under Nevada law, someone who helps another person commit murder can be convicted of the crime. Davis is the only person still alive among the four men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac. The man who prosecutors say originally gave the gun to Davis is also dead.<\/p>\n
Palal told jurors that if they believed Davis’ statements, they did not have to be independently corroborated with additional evidence.<\/p>\n
Still, he pointed to the rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru, the fight with Orlando \u201cBaby Lane\u201d Anderson and testimony that members of Shakur\u2019s circle identified Anderson and Davis as suspects the night of the shooting. Witnesses had testified to the heated gang rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru, which were associated with duelling record companies Bad Boy Records and Death Row Records.<\/p>\n
Read More:\u00a0Trial opens for ex-gang leader charged with Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder<\/p>\n
\u201cWho fired is not the question,\u201d Palal said. Prosecutors haven’t argued that Davis pulled the trigger, but instead that he was criminally responsible because he provided the gun and ordered the attack. Palal also argued the shooting was premeditated, pointing to testimony and Davis\u2019 accounts that the group searched for Shakur before spotting him on the road and making a U-turn. \u201cIt\u2019s a plan, not an impulse,\u201d Palal said.<\/p>\n
Palal held up Davis\u2019 2019 memoir, \u201cCompton Street Legend,\u201d and played an interview in which Davis encouraged people to buy it to get the \u201creal truth.\u201d Although the book contains a disclaimer saying some facts were changed, Palal argued that names, hotels and other details changed while the central account did not.<\/p>\n
Palal also rejected the defence\u2019s contention that Davis fabricated his accounts to make money. \u201cIt is an entirely different proposition to be profiting from a murder,\u201d Palal said. \u201cAnd that is what Mr Davis is doing.\u201d Sanft also turned to his client\u2019s memoir during his closing argument. While reading an excerpt, he said the N-word aloud, prompting people watching in an overflow courtroom to recoil and shake their heads.<\/p>\n
In multiple interviews, Davis said he handed the gun to the back seat, but in others as well as in his book, Davis wouldn\u2019t say who pulled the trigger.<\/p>\n
In a rebuttal argument, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo pointed to a scrapbook Davis kept containing articles about Shakur. \u201cThis guy’s scrapbooking his murder, for God’s sake,\u201d DiGiacomo told jurors.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors and defence clash over Davis\u2019 role<\/p>\n
The prosecution’s witnesses included a gang expert who described Davis as the shot caller that younger gang members had to obey.<\/p>\n
Sanft asked jurors if there was any evidence that Davis had ever called the shots before or after the shooting. During the trial, investigators said a Las Vegas hotel bill was found at Davis\u2019 residence during a police search, but it wasn\u2019t clear when it was dated or where that evidence is currently located.<\/p>\n
The case is nearly 30 years old, which has affected the kind of evidence presented in court. Prosecutors warned jurors that material collected in the \u201990s is different from what law enforcement collects today, including hotel surveillance video from the night of the shooting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Duane \u201cKeffe D\u201d Davis was found guilty on Monday of orchestrating the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur, becoming the first person convicted in the decades-old case. The 63-year-old faces a possible life sentence after a Las Vegas jury deliberated for less than three hours. A jury found Duane \u201cKeffe D\u201d Davis guilty of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5647,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5642\/revisions\/5647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistantimesusa.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}