Duane “Keffe D” Davis could spend the rest of his life in prison for orchestrating Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder, bringing a major reckoning in the decades-old case.
On Tuesday, Davis was sentenced for his role in the September 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur on the Las Vegas Strip. After over 30 years, Davis, the only person ever charged in the drive-by shooting, was given a 40-years-to-life sentence in a Las Vegas court by Nevada District Court Judge Carli Kierny.
During the hearing, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told the court, “He deserves the maximum possible sentence because he’s earned it through his actions, his behavior, and who he is as he stands here today.”
The judge issued a stern rebuke to Duane Davis
After impact statements from Tupac’s sister Sekyiwa Shakur and his stepbrother Mopreme Shakur, the judge told Davis, “Mr. Davis, for three years, I’ve heard you say some variation of the same thing to law enforcement, [in interviews], 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.’ I’m here to tell you that’s not how this works.
“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,” she continued. “The world never forgot about him and his death, and neither did Las Vegas. It took us 30 years, but at this time, you are going to face justice for what you did on Sept. 7, 1996.”
Davis sealed his own fate with numerous statements that amounted to confessions
Tupac Shakur, who was 25-years-old at the time of his murder, died six days after being shot on Sept. 7, 1996. Davis, who has claimed he is innocent and had nothing to do with the shooting, was arrested on one count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in September of 2023.
On August 31, 2026, a jury in Las Vegas took about three hours to reach a guilty verdict after hearing what amounted to multiple confessions about Tupac Shakur’s murder from Duane Davis himself.
In his 2019 biography, a documentary, and podcasts, Davis spent years revealing his role to investigators and interviewers. His memoir even had the tagline “The last living eyewitness to Tupac’s murder is telling his story.”
Using that evidence and more, prosecutors accused Duane Davis of planning the deadly shooting even though he did not personally carry out the murder.
Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis claims he wasn’t in Las Vegas at the time of the shooting
Despite his prior admissions, including those made to police in 2008 and 2009 and in the 2018 documentary series Death Row Chronicles, Duane Davis later claimed he wasn’t even in Las Vegas at the time of the shooting.
However, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson expressed, “The strength of our case was Mr. Davis… his mouth.”
Defense attorney Michael Sanft said he intends to file an appeal. Davis, who did not testify in his own defense, reiterated that plan to the judge, saying, “I just want all that stuff back that you took out of my house,” adding, “I’m good, I’m going to appeal this case for sure.”