Tupac Murder Trial: Duane “Keffe D” Davis Sentenced 40 Years to Life in Prison

The man found guilty of helping orchestrate the murder of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur over 30 years ago was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday, ABC News reported.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis is the first and only person to have been convicted over Shakur’s death, with the former Southside Crips gang leader found guilty of murder, not on allegations of pulling the trigger himself, but as operating as the “shot caller” in the ordeal. Shakur’s murder was one of the most infamous crimes in pop culture history, and while Davis had long been associated with the incident — he had said in old interviews and a 2019 memoir that he provided the gun — he was arrested in 2023. The book itself had served as a key piece of evidence in the investigation and trial.

Davis himself had pleaded not guilty on the murder charge, and days after his conviction, he’d spoken with The Hollywood Reporter, maintaining his innoncence and saying that “I’m not no fucking killer.”

During the trial, Davis’ legal team sought to establish that Davis was lying in his memoir and previous interviews, with his lawyers calling his previous claims “bullshit.” Davis himself told THR that he “never read that book.”

Shakur’s death has been particularly associated with gang violence, and how it had gotten entwined with the East Coast/West Coast rap rivalry of the ’90s. Shakur’s label Death Row, lead by Suge Knight, was associated with the bloods. Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Records had purportedly linked itself to the crips, and Davis had previously said Combs had offered up $1 million for Shakur’s death.

Combs, currently in prison and recently hospitalized over a head injury, has long denied the claims. Davis himself had told THR after his conviction that Combs never offered him the money, and when asked what he would want to tell Combs, he said “help me out in here. Look out for my family.”