Tupac Shakur : Witness to Rapper’s Shooting Charged Over 1996 Murder

Tupac Shakur: Witness to rapper’s shooting charged over 1996 murder

By George Washington

One of the last living witnesses to the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas has been charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon over the 1996 killing.

The charges against Duane “Keffe D” Davis on Friday represent a long-awaited breakthrough in a case that has frustrated investigators and fascinated the public ever since the hip-hop icon was gunned down 27 years ago.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said a grand jury that indicted Davis in Nevada had been seated in the case for “several months”. DiGiacomo described Davis as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

The charges were revealed hours after Davis, 60, was arrested on Friday morning while on a walk near his home, according to DiGiacomo.

Davis has long been known to investigators in the United States and has himself admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he was in the Cadillac from which the gunfire erupted during the September 1996 drive-by shooting.

Shakur was 25 when he was killed.

Las Vegas police raided a home in mid-July in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson that is tied to Davis.

Police were looking for items “concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur”, according to the search warrant. They collected multiple computers, a mobile phone and hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-calibre bullets, two “tubs containing photographs” and a copy of Davis’ memoir.

Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese denied Davis bail.

“It has often been said that justice delayed is justice denied,” District Attorney Steve Wolfson said after the hearing in a brief comment to The Associated Press news agency. “In this case, justice has been delayed, but justice won’t be denied.”