Tupac murder suspect arrested and named as Duane Davis
Las Vegas police arrest Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis who was tied to 1996 drive-by shooting of hip-hop star, after decades without a suspect
Nevada man Duane Davis has been indicted for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.
Las Vegas police arrested the 60-year-old on Friday morning.
Mr Davis, 60, was the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of the legendary hip-hop star, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo.
The rapper’s stepbrother Mopreme Shakur told CNN this moment is “bittersweet.”
“We have been through decades of pain. They have known about this guy, who been running his mouth, for years,” he said.
“So why now?” he added. “For us, this is not over. We want to know why, and if there were any accomplices.”
In July, the Vegas police raided a home connected to the man in the nearby city of Henderson as part of their ongoing investigation.
Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting in Vegas on 7 September, 1996.
Suspect Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis charged with 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur
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Duane Davis described Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder in gruesome detail. Now he’s been arrested for it
Vegas suspect in Tupac murder described killing in depth in 2019 memoir
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man indicted on Friday for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, wrote at length about his alleged role in the killing in a 2019 tell-all memoir.
Mr Davis alleged that Tupac appeared to be grabbing a gun, so his car full of associates opened fire.
“Tupac made an errative move and began to reach down beneath his seat,” Mr Davis writes.
“One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back,” he continued.
The Nevada man explained the shooting as a response to a previous altercation between Tupac and a member of the South Side Crip gang.
Tupac investigation is ‘far from over,’ Las Vegas sheriff says
A suspect may have been charged, but the investigation into Tupac Shakur’s murder is “far from over,” according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
“While I know there have been many people who did not believe the murder of Tupac Shakur was important to this department, I am here to tell you that is simply not the case,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a news conference on Friday. “It was not the case back then, and it is not the case today.”
Watch the full press conference here.
Duane Davis described Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder in gruesome detail. Now he’s been arrested for it
He is a former Southside Compton Crips gang member and one of the last people ever to see rapper Tupac Shakur alive.
Now Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been arrested and charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon in the 1996 killing of the renowned rapper on the Las Vegas strip.
Mr Davis was arrested by police near his home on the outskirts of Las Vegas on Friday 29 September, hours after a grand jury returned an indictment against him.
Prosecutors then appeared in court where they described him as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.
Graeme Massie has the details on what led police to bring the suspect in.
Duane Davis described Tupac’s murder in gory detail. Now he’s been arrested for it
Vegas suspect was ‘shot-caller’ who planned to kill Tupac
Duane Davis, who was indicted on Friday for the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996, didn’t pull the trigger, but Las Vegas police say he’s nonetheless responsible for the hip-hop icon’s death.
“Duane Davis was the shot-caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime,” homicide lieutenant Jason Johansson said during a press conference on Friday. “He orchestrated the plan that was carried out.”
Police described Mr Davis, who has not yet entered a plea, as a leader in the Southside Compton Crips gang, who were in a conflict with a gang associated with Shakur.
How a series of media interviews gave Vegas PD a suspect in the Tupac case
Las Vegas police say they knew most of the basic facts about Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder in a matter of weeks, but they never got the kind of conclusive evidence that could put someone away.
That changed in 2018, when a Southern California gang leader named Duane Davis began speaking about his alleged role in the killing as a leader in the Southside Compton Crips.
“This case was reinvigorated as additional information came to light related to his homicide, especially Duane Davis’s own admissions to his involvement in this homicide he provided to numerous different media outlets,” Lieutenant Johansson said.
Indeed, in the 2018 Netflix documentary Unsolved: The Tupac and Biggie Murders and in his book Compton Street Legend which he published in 2019, Keffe D claimed that his nephew Orlando Anderson fatally shot Tupac – and that he was in the car with him when he opened fire.
“Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat,” Mr Davis writes in the book.
“It was the first and only time in my life that I could relate to the police command, ‘Keep your hands where I can see them.’ Instead, Pac pulled out a strap, and that’s when the fireworks started.
“One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”
Mr Davis was arrested and indicted on murder charges on Friday, 29 September, with police accusing him of being the ‘shot-caller’ who orchestrated Tupac’s death.
What are the charges against Duane Davis over Tupac’s murder?
Duane Davis has been charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur.
Even though he isn’t thought to have shot the rapper himself in 1996, police described Mr Davis as the “shot-caller” who planned the retaliatory gang shooting that claimed the rapper’s life.
Mr Davis is charged with one count of open murder with use of a deadly weapon, a charge strengthened with a gang enhancement.
He has not yet entered a plea.
Tupac’s family is ‘pleased’ with indictment of murder suspect Duane Davis
Tupac Shakur’s family is relieved that a suspect is in custody for the rapper’s 1996 murder, according to law enforcement officials.
“The family has reached out to my office,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said during a press conference on Friday. “We’ve been in communication with them. We understand they are welcoming this news. They are pleased with this news.”
The DA said the family would be “involved” with the case against suspect Duane Davis going forward.
Tupac’s family reacts to arrest of Duane Davis
Tupac Shakur’s family greeted the news a suspect has been arrested in the hip-hop star’s 1996 murder with a mix of feelings.
The rapper’s stepbrother Mopreme Shakur told CNN this moment is “bittersweet.”
“We have been through decades of pain. They have known about this guy, who been running his mouth, for years,” he said.
“So why now?” he added. “For us, this is not over. We want to know why, and if there were any accomplices.”
Read the indictment against Duane Davis
Officials in Clark County have released the indictment against Duane Davis, who is charged with murder in the 1996 shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur.
The indictment doesn’t contain many more details than what authorities have told us today, but it does contain one interesting wrinkle: suggesting Mr Davis may have killed Tupac himself.
The Nevada man has said he directed the plot to kill the rapper, and was in the car with the gunman, but hasn’t ever claimed responsibility for the shooting itself.
The indictment, however, describes how Mr Davis as being charged with “directly committing this crime; and/or...aiding or abetting in the commission of this crime.”
Read the full document below.
What’s next in the Tupac murder investigation?
As far as the Las Vegas police department is concerned, Duane Davis is the only remaining suspect in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.
“In this case, the only living suspect related to this investigation is Duane Davis,” Las Vegas homicide lieutenant Jason Johansson said at a press on Friday. “All other 3 suspects are deceased.”