A jury found Duane "Keffe D" Davis guilty in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, the first conviction in the decades-old case. Jurors reached the verdict in less than three hours after a weeks-long trial.
Davis, 63, was convicted of murder with a deadly weapon and could face life in prison. He had pleaded not guilty. Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said Davis obtained a gun and "went hunting" for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight after Davis' nephew was beaten earlier that night.
Palal argued Davis' changing accounts still consistently placed him inside the white Cadillac used in the shooting. "The core facts remain. The material facts remain," Palal said.
Defense attorney Michael Sanft argued there was no independent evidence placing Davis in Las Vegas or inside the Cadillac, citing missing surveillance footage and phone records. "They have nothing in this case that says that man was here in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996," Sanft said.
The 16-member jury heard testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defense witnesses over nine days.
Shakur, 25, was shot at a Las Vegas intersection on Sept. 7, 1996, when a white Cadillac pulled alongside his vehicle. He died six days later; Knight survived his injuries.
Prosecutors said Davis helped orchestrate the attack and provided the weapon, though they did not allege he fired it. "Who fired is not the question," Palal said.
He also argued the shooting was planned, saying: "It's a plan, not an impulse.
