Archive · 5 Sep 2026
Tupac Shakur Murder Convict Maintains Innocence After Verdict
A rapper named Tupac Shakur was shot in Las Vegas in 1996.
He died six days later from his injuries.
Years later, Duane Davis was convicted of first-degree murder in the case.
The article says Davis was found guilty of orchestrating the killing.
Davis says he is innocent and insists he is not a killer.
He says he was at a bar and then went home after a boxing match.
He also claims police and prosecutors made up evidence against him.
However, a 2019 memoir by Davis included his account of getting a gun and riding in a car with three other men while searching for Tupac and another person.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis was convicted of first-degree murder in the case involving Tupac Shakur’s 1996 death.
Davis maintains that he did not kill or orchestrate Shakur’s murder and says evidence against him was fabricated.
He claims he was at a bar and then home after the Mike Tyson fight on the night of the shooting.
Shakur was shot in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, and died six days later.
In his 2019 memoir, Davis described obtaining a gun and traveling with three others while looking for Shakur and another person.
- Who
- Duane “Keffe D” Davis was convicted in the case involving rapper Tupac Shakur’s death.
- What
- Davis was convicted of first-degree murder, while continuing to deny killing or orchestrating Shakur’s murder.
- When
- Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, died on September 13, 1996, and Davis was convicted on a Monday described in the article.
- Where
- The shooting occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Why
- The case concerned a drive-by shooting that killed Shakur; the article says prosecutors attributed responsibility for orchestrating it to Davis.
Case Against Davis
Davis’s Defense
Responsibility for the killing
Case Against Davis
The verdict found Davis guilty of first-degree murder, and the article describes him as having orchestrated the killing.
Davis’s Defense
Davis says, “We didn’t do that,” and insists he is not a killer.
Evidence and testimony
Case Against Davis
The case included testimony from Reggie Wright, who Davis says linked him to the events and claimed Davis had a gun at the Soul Train Awards.
Davis’s Defense
Davis denies being at the Soul Train Awards and says Wright lied, while police and prosecutors fabricated evidence against him and his late nephew Orlando Anderson.
Davis’s own account
Case Against Davis
In his 2019 memoir, Davis wrote that he obtained a gun and rode in a white car with Orlando Anderson, Terrance Brown and Deandre Smith while looking for Shakur and another person.
Davis’s Defense
Davis says the memoir was based on stories an author asked him to tell and maintains that the account does not make him a killer.
- Defendant
- Duane “Keffe D” Davis
- Verdict
- Guilty of first-degree murder, according to the article
- Victim
- Rapper Tupac Shakur
- Shooting date
- September 7, 1996
- Death date
- September 13, 1996
- Location
- Las Vegas
- Memoir
- Davis described his account in the 2019 book “Compton Street Legend”