[UPDATE 9/29/23]: In a monumental breakthrough in one of the most high-profile criminal cases of all time, a man who Nevada prosecutors say orchestrated the 1996 drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur was arrested and charged with murder on Friday.
The man arrested, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 60, had been on investigators’ radars for years as one of four suspects identified early in the investigation. Davis’ name sparked renewed interest in the Tupac murder case this past summer when the Las Vegas police executed a search warrant at his Henderson, NV home. As a LVMPD official reported after the fact, in addition to the magazine articles on Tupac, the search of the home retrieved computers, hard drives, and pictures from the 1990s showing “individuals who might have been connected to people directly or indirectly involved in the drive-by shooting.” Keffe D had previously claimed in his 2019 book, Compton Street Legend, that he is one of two living eyewitnesses to Shakur’s killing.
Although he isn’t being accused of being the gunman, he was described by local authorities as the “shot caller” behind the shooting during a press conference on Friday. During the briefing, Police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said Davis’ own public comments revived the investigation by providing police with “admissible evidence.”
Per the Associated Press, “Davis was arrested early Friday while on a walk near his home on the outskirts of Las Vegas, hours before prosecutors announced in court that a Nevada grand jury had indicted the self-described ‘gangster’ on one count of murder with a deadly weapon. … The grand jury also voted to add a sentencing enhancement to the murder charge for gang activity that if he’s convicted, could add up to 20 additional years.
Watch the LVMPD’s press briefing about the arrest of Duane “Keffe D” Davis in connection with the killing of Tupac Shakur below.
Man Linked to Tupac Shooting Arrested –Police Press Briefing – The Associated Press
[7/21/23] 27 years after the still-unsolved murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas, law enforcement this week served a search warrant for a house in a suburb of the Nevada city, thrusting the infamous case back into national headlines.
“LVMPD can confirm a search warrant was served in Henderson, Nevada, on July 17, 2023, as part of an ongoing investigation,” the Las Vegas Metro Police Department said in a statement released on Tuesday. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
While it did not provide much insight into the investigation, per the Los Angeles Times, “The statement is the first time in years any police agency has publicly revealed it is actively pursuing inquiries in the Sept. 7, 1996, shooting. Nevada does not have a statute of limitations for prosecuting homicide cases.”
A video obtained by ABC News showed armored vehicles and other law enforcement cars driving down the suburban street just after 10:00 p.m. and instructing the people inside to come out with their hands up. Additional video obtained by TMZ seemed to show moment of standoff tension between the law enforcement on the scene and the person in the house.
Per the Las Vegas police, the search warrant was issued for the Henderson, NV home of Duane Keith Davis, also known as Keffe D, who in his 2019 book, Compton Street Legend, said he is one of two living eyewitnesses to the Tupac Shakur killing.
Per the search warrant, police also aimed to seize any notes, writings, photos or other items linking Davis to the Southside Compton Crips. They also had the authority to take materials related to Tupac’s murder, as well as computers, storage devices, cell phones and copies of Davis’ book, among other items.
As a LVMPD official reported after the fact, in addition to the magazine articles on Tupac,the search of the home retrieved computers, hard drives, and pictures from the 1990s showing “individuals who might have been connected to people directly or indirectly involved in the drive-by shooting.”
The evidence in the case is now being presented to a Las Vegas grand jury, though a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News that it could take months for any charging decisions. “Investigators have long believed the gunman is likely already dead, the victim of a separate shooting two years after the Vegas drive-by,” ABC News continued. “The current investigation could lead to a determination of who was in the car with the gunman when the rounds were fired that killed Tupac. That could lead to someone being charged as an accomplice.”
Countless words have been written, films have been made, and conspiracy theories have been spun regarding the killing of Tupac Shakur since he was gunned down in a drive-by shooting at a crowded intersection just a block away from the Las Vegas Strip. Investigators and home sleuths alike have picked apart the particulars of the killing for nearly three decades. Fingers have been pointed at everyone and everything from his physical altercation with a group of rival gang members in the MGM Grand lobby earlier that night to inside-job setups by Knight to his ongoing beef with his friend-turned-rival from the East Coast, The Notorious B.I.G.—who himself was gunned down in Los Angeles the following year in another still-unsolved case that many have speculated was related to Shakur’s murder.
Biggie was far from the only person linked to the investigation that went on to meet an untimely end. Las Vegas police have previously investigated Orlando Anderson, a reputed gang member, who was identified as being involved in the physical altercation with Shakur and his bodyguards in the MGM lobby on the night of the shooting. Per the Los Angeles Times, “Anderson, 21, was a member of the Southside Crips. Shakur and Knight were affiliated with a rival Compton gang, the Mob Piru Bloods; Shakur’s bodyguards were also members of the Bloods.” The investigation into Orlando Anderson stalled when he was killed in a gang-related shooting in May 1988 at a Compton, CA car wash. Another witness, Yafeu Fula, a.k.a Yaki Kadafi, whose car was behind Shakur and Knight’s when the killing took place was, was shot and killed in a New Jersey apartment building in November of 1996.
While the killing of Tupac Shakur remains a mystery 27 years later, these new developments indicate that there may just be some newfound heat on the long-cold case. Read a timeline of events pertaining to the nearly three-decade-long investigation into the killing of Tupac Shakur here. Watch a current news update on the recent developments in the case below.
New Details Emerge From Tupac Murder Investigation – ABC News – 7/21/23
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