Posted by Duane “Keffe D” Davis has officially been found guilty in the murder of 2Pac nearly 30 years after the 1996 killing. On Monday (Aug. 31), Clark County District Judge Carli Kierny announced that the jury had reached a verdict after 90 minutes of deliberation. Once the jurors were seated, the court clerk formally announced the jury’s decision of finding Keffe D guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang in the killing of 2Pac.
According to reports, after the guilty verdict was read, Keffe D briefly raised his fist and looked at the attendees while exiting the courtroom. The late rapper’s family members were present, and the atmosphere was heavy with emotion as the verdict was delivered, with Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, the late rapper’s sister, weeping quietly.
Legal Consequences and Trial Background
Keffe D could face life in prison for the first-degree murder conviction when he is formally sentenced on Oct. 13. He was originally arrested on Sept. 29, 2023, following a raid on his home. Police charged him with murder with use of a deadly weapon, alleging that he obtained the weapon used in the shooting and was present during the incident in Las Vegas.
Authorities have long maintained that the shooting was an act of retaliation following an altercation between Orlando Anderson—Keffe D’s nephew and the alleged gunman—and 2Pac alongside members of Death Row Records after a Mike Tyson fight on Sept. 7, 1996. While Keffe D remained behind bars throughout the trial, his defense team faced significant hurdles, including the inclusion of his 2019 book, Compton Street Legend, as evidence. Judge Kierny ruled that the book could be used in court, noting that Davis had repeatedly referred to the work as the “real truth.”
Witnesses and Evidence
Opening statements began on Aug. 17, marking a pivotal moment in one of hip-hop’s most notorious unsolved cases. Over the course of the three-week trial, the jury heard testimony from numerous witnesses, including former Death Row head of security Reggie Wright Jr., eyewitness Ingrid Stokes, and former Las Vegas Police officer Garry Dale. Despite defense arguments that the book was fictionalized for profit, the prosecution successfully utilized Davis’s own words to secure the conviction.