LAS VEGAS (AP) — One of the last living witnesses to rapper Tupac Shakur’s fatal drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996 was charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon on Friday, a long-awaited breakthrough in a case that has frustrated investigators and captivated the public since the hip-hop icon was gunned down 27 years ago.
Prosecutors said in court Friday that a Nevada grand jury had indicted Duane “Keffe D” Davis in the death. According to Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo, a grand jury has been convened in the matter for “several months.” DiGiacomo described Davis as the “on-the-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered Shakur’s death.”
The charges were revealed hours after Davis, 60, was arrested this morning while on a walk near his home, according to DiGiacomo.
Davis has long been known to investigators 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 cellphone and hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-caliber 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 AP. “In this case, justice has been delayed, but justice won’t be denied.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if Davis has an attorney who can comment on his behalf. Davis hasn’t responded to multiple phone and text messages from The Associated Press seeking comment or an interview in the more than two months since the house raid.
Shakur was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight in a convoy of about 10 cars. They were waiting at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and gunfire erupted. Shakur was shot multiple times and died a week later at the age of 25.
The rapper’s death came as his fourth solo album, “All Eyez on Me,” remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold. Nominated six times for a Grammy Award, Shakur is still largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.
In his memoir, Davis said he was in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and had slipped the gun used in the killing into the backseat, from where he said the shots were fired.
Davis implicated his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, saying he was one of two people in the backseat. Anderson, a known rival of Shakur, had been involved in a casino brawl with the rapper shortly before the shooting.
After the casino brawl, “Mr. Davis formulated a plan to exact revenge upon Mr. Knight and Mr. Shakur” in his nephew’s defense, DiGiacomo said.
