Tupac Shakur, Duane "Keffe D" Davis sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering rapper

"The world has never forgotten him and his death, and neither has Las Vegas. It took 30 years, but now you will face justice for what you did on September 7, 1996." On October 13, 2026, Judge Carli Kierny sentenced Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, to a minimum of 40 years in prison for orchestrating the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur (who was 25 at the time) in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas.

As of late August 2026, Davis had already been found guilty of murder with the use of a deadly weapon with intent to promote, further or aid a criminal gang. During the trial in Las Vegas, which lasted several weeks, the prosecution had argued that the defendant had handed the murder weapon to the alleged killer, believed to be either his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, or another man sitting in the back seat of a car. The ruling from a Nevada court judge finally arrived yesterday.

Before Judge Kierny's decision, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo said: "He is a multiple convicted felon who sits before you for this crime perpetrated against these family members, these brothers. And you have to ask yourself, for this crime, for this person, what punishment does he deserve? Whatever your decision, ultimately, in my opinion, he deserves the maximum sentence possible because he has earned it with his actions, his behavior and who he is today."

In the end, Judge Kierny ruled: "You can't take a man away from his family. You can't take away his life, his entire future, and then walk away. Especially when that man is Tupac Shakur."

THE WORDS OF TUPAC'S SISTER AND BROTHER

Duane “Keffe D” Davis' defense attorney, Michael Sanft, said he would appeal the judge's decision. Before reading the sentence, Tupac Shakur's sister, Sekyiwa, had barely held back her tears, recalling her relationship with her brother and the difficult coexistence with the trauma following his death: "[Tupac] is truly my shining star, my shining prince, he is the one to whom God entrusted the care of me. My mother had two children and God gave him to me, and he is destined to be my life partner. I spent 30 years without protection. I believe that If one life mattered, if all lives mattered, surely this man's life mattered."

The rapper's other brother, Maurice, echoed this: "The impact of my brother's murder has been devastating, heartbreaking and sad. For me, for my family and for the entire nation of Pac's fans and loved ones. Pac didn't have the chance to have children, he didn't see his grandchildren grow up and he didn't have a trial. All Pac received was a death sentence. So the longest sentence possible, Your Honor."

RECONSTRUCTION

Duane “Keffe D” Davis is a former leader of the Southside Compton Crips gang, as well as the only person charged in the death of Tupac Shakur. On September 7, 1996, the date of the murder, the rapper was 25 years old and at the peak of his career. After attending a fight with Mike Tyson, he was involved in a fight with Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, another member of the Crips and nephew of Davis himself.

While he was traveling in Las Vegas in a car driven by Suge Knight, the owner of his label, and heading to a club where he was supposed to perform, Tupac was hit by bullets fired from a white cadillac and died six days later, on September 13, 1996. The case remained unsolved for 30 years, however without the discovery of the murder weapon.

Now Davis' conviction is based on his own admissions, contained in an autobiography published in 2019. He wrote: "I am one of the few living eyewitnesses to Tupac's murder, and I also know the much larger story behind why both Tupac and Biggie were killed."