Ex-gang leader Duane 'Keffe D' Davis sentenced to 40 years to life for Tupac Shakur murder

Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the former gang leader convicted of orchestrating the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison. Judge Carli Kierny handed down the sentence in a Las Vegas courtroom, telling Davis, "You don't get to take a man from his family. You don't get to take his very life, his whole future from him, and just walk away from it. Especially when that man is Tupac Shakur."

Davis, 63, was found guilty in August of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon for the drive-by shooting that killed Shakur on September 7, 1996. Prosecutors said Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, ordered the killing as retaliation for an attack on his nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand casino earlier that night. Although Davis did not fire the gun, they argued he obtained the weapon and gave the order to shoot.

Shakur, 25, was riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight when a white Cadillac pulled alongside and opened fire. Knight was wounded but survived; Shakur died six days later. The case remained one of America's most famous cold cases for nearly three decades, fueling countless conspiracy theories and no arrests until Davis was charged in September 2023.

The conviction rested largely on Davis's own words. In a 2008 police interview conducted under a proffer agreement, Davis admitted to being in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and handing a loaded .40-caliber Glock to the back seat. "He rolled down the window, popped 'em," Davis said of the shooter. "If they drove on my side, I would have popped 'em." That agreement was later voided after Davis repeated his account in a 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, and in media interviews.

During Tuesday's hearing, Shakur's sister Sekyiwa Shakur delivered an emotional victim impact statement. "The loss of Tupac, for a long time, crippled my family," she said. "He had so much promise, intentions for a better world." She asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence. Davis, given the chance to speak, showed no contrition. "I'm good. I'm gonna appeal this case for sure," he said.

Judge Kierny rebuked Davis for years of public bragging about his role in the killing. "For three years, I've heard you say some variation of the same thing to law enforcement... in your book, and it's something like, 'Yeah, I was involved in this, but I'm different. I've moved on. I got out of Compton. I'm a grandfather now,'" she said. "I'm here to tell you that's not how this works."

Davis is the only person ever convicted in the case. Anderson was killed in an unrelated shooting in 1998. Two other men prosecutors said were in the Cadillac, Deandrae "Big Dre" Smith and Terrence "Bubble Up" Brown, also died before charges could be brought. Davis has maintained his innocence and plans to appeal.