Las Vegas police have arrested Duane “Keffe D” Davis in connection with the drive-by shooting that claimed the life of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur in 1996.
The backstory: Davis has been known to investigators for years and has previously admitted his involvement in the shooting in interviews and his memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”
- A raid conducted at Davis’s wife’s home in July yielded several items related to Shakur’s murder, including computers, a cellphone, hard drive, and a copy of Davis’s book.
- Davis claimed that he broke his silence about Tupac’s killing during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities in 2010, hoping to have his own charges reduced in exchange for cooperating.
- The shooting occurred in 1996 when Tupac Shakur and Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight were in a BMW at a red light. A white Cadillac pulled up alongside them, and gunfire erupted, leaving Shakur fatally wounded.
- Davis implicated his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, as one of the shooters in the back seat of the Cadillac during an interview in 2018.
Driving the news: The arrest of Davis comes after renewed attention and interest in the case, fueled by his public descriptions of his involvement in Shakur’s murder. The exact charges against Davis have not been disclosed, but an indictment is expected.
- Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who investigated the Shakur killing, noted that Davis is the last living person connected to the shooting and could potentially face a first-degree murder charge due to premeditation.
- The case against Davis gained momentum after his public declarations, providing Las Vegas with the opportunity to move forward with an indictment.
- The ongoing feud between Tupac Shakur and rival rapper Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G, defined the hip-hop scene during the mid-1990s. Shakur’s death occurred while both rappers were in the midst of the east coast-west coast rivalry.
- Kading emphasized that the case has never been unsolved in investigators’ minds but remained unprosecuted until now.
