A Nevada man was detained on Friday in connection with the long-unsolved death of Tupac Shakur in 1996, according to officials. He is thought to be the final living suspect being looked into in the case.
According to records from the Clark County District Court, a grand jury returned a murder charge against Duane Keith Davis, 60, sometimes known as "Keefy D" or "Keffe D," on Thursday. The indictment was formally filed late Friday morning.
Davis has previously admitted that he was in the vehicle that was parked close to the rapper's automobile at the time of the shooting. But up until Friday, no charges had ever been brought in the case that has for years been the subject of headlines, rumors, songs, and films.
Holding a copy of the indictment, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stated on Friday, "This is the indictment we've been waiting for almost three decades." Justice shall be done.
Davis is accused of using a dangerous weapon to commit murder in order to support the South Side Compton Crips, a violent gang.
If Davis had a criminal defense attorney to testify on his behalf, it wasn't immediately known. Requests for comment from the Clark County public defender's office were not immediately fulfilled.
According to the indictment, Davis bought a gun for the attack "for the purpose of seeking retribution against Tupac Amaru Shakur" and Marion "Suge" Knight, the head of Death Row, Tupac's record label and a longstanding partner of a rival group, the Mob Piru.
Although Davis was not the shooter, the paper makes the case that his involvement in the crime was just as significant as any other shooter's. According to the indictment, Davis and three other gang members who were with him that evening planned to murder Tupac "by acting in concert throughout."
By "counseling, encouraging, hiring, commanding, inducing and/or otherwise procuring the other to commit the crime," the paper claims that Davis willed Tupac's demise.
At a news conference announcing the arrest on Friday, Lt. Jason Johansson of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stated that Duane Davis "was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out."
Shakur and his group were in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, the night of Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Sheldon's heavyweight match.
According to authorities, the rapper and Knight beat up competitor Anderson inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino earlier that night, setting off his murder.
Davis, according to investigators, immediately plotted Shakur's murder in retaliation for Anderson's beating and acquired the weapon used in the crime.
When a Cadillac drew up next to Shakur, 25, and his pals, they were halted along East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. The driver of the Cadillac then opened fire, striking Shakur. He passed away on September 13th.
Davis is the final person still alive of the four people who were allegedly in the car that attacked Shakur.
The sole remaining suspect in this investigation, according to Johansson, is Duane Davis; the other three suspects have all passed away.
Davis' nephew Orlando Anderson has long been thought to be the shooter. In a Los Angeles gang shooting in 1998, Anderson was killed.
The district attorney, Wolfson, claimed that his office had spoken with Shakur's family and that they are aware of the charge.
We recognize that they are happy to hear this news, Wolfson said. They are happy at the news.
Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, the late rapper's sister, referred to the arrest as a "pivotal moment" and stated that she would hold judgment until the procedures were over.
She stated in a statement that "the silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community." "There have been many people involved, and there are still many questions regarding my brother Tupac's life and death, as well as the Shakur family as a whole. On all fronts, we are fighting for real justice.
According to Sheriff Kevin McMahill, statements made by Davis in 2018 "reinvigorated" the case after years of questions and no answers.
Davis was involved in conversations with Los Angeles police in a different narcotics investigation in 2018, when he brought up Shakur's murder in a non-prosecution agreement, however Las Vegas authorities didn't identify which of Davis' statements were responsible for his indictment.
"He provides his own series of statements that are very consistent with the evidence that we have obtained," Johansson remarked.
In interviews and his book "Compton Street Legend," Davis claimed to have given Shakur the gun that killed him the following year.
On July 17, police executed a search warrant at Davis' residence outside of Las Vegas in search of computers and other electronic devices related to the lengthy investigation.
Johansson declined to go into specifics about what was found during that search that resulted in the indictment, but he did say that what was found "corroborated information obtained through our investigation."
Rapper Christopher Wallace, often known as Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, from Brooklyn, was slain in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles less than six months after Assata Shakur was murdered.
For the murder of Biggie on March 9, 1997, no one has ever been put on trial. It has long been assumed that a rivalry was involved in the deaths.
As the South Side Compton Crips supplied security for Assata Shakur's adversaries, rappers for New York City-based Bad Boy Entertainment, tension between the South Side Compton Crips and the Mob Piru increased, and Shakur began to harbor animosity toward his former friend Biggie.
A former Compton law enforcement officer testified in records made public on Friday that a few South Side members, including Anderson, beat up a Mob Piru member sporting a Death Row Records medallion months before Shakur was shot.
On Friday, authorities insisted that the reason for Shakur's death was directly related to the altercation.
NBC News, as a source.