A suspected key player in the 1996 murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur has been arrested and charged with murder, bringing a long overdue resolution to a high-profile case that has persisted for over two decades. As investigators zero in on Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis, a sense of closure and justice is finally on the horizon for the hip-hop community.
What do we know about the conviction of Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis?
Duane ‘Keefe D’ Davis, who has long been established as one of the four suspected individuals involved in the 1996 Tupac Shakur murder case, has finally been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the case. He was not the accused gunman but authorities described him as the instigator and the “shot caller” at a Friday news conference. (If you assist someone in committing a crime, you can be prosecuted with a crime, including murder, in Nevada.) Police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson also added that Davis’ public comments rekindled the investigation by providing the authorities with “admissible evidence.”
Davis was apprehended on a walk near his house on the outskirts of Las Vegas early Friday, just hours before prosecutors announced in court that a Nevada grand jury had convicted the self-titled “gangster” on one count of murder with a deadly weapon. The grand jury also chose to add a gang activity sentencing enhancement to the murder accusation, which could add up to 20 years to his sentence if convicted. “He confesses to his involvement in the Tupac Shakur case, he gives all the details of how he and his co-conspirators killed Tupac,” recalled LAPD detective Greg Kading in an interview on Friday. “He has essentially talked himself right into jail.”
“For 27 years the family of Tupac Shakur has been waiting for justice. 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.”
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill