Jury finds Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis guilty of murder in 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur

7PM UPDATE:

LAS VEGAS (CNN) — Duane “Keffe D” Davis was convicted Monday of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang in the killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur.

The jury deliberated for about three hours.

He will be sentenced on Oct. 13. He faces possible life in prison.

After the verdict was announced, Davis said he plans to appeal and asked the judge for his personal belongings, including his phone and laptop, back.

Family members of Shakur appeared emotional as the guilty verdict against Davis was read.

There were no audible reactions in the courtroom, but Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur – the rapper’s sister – appeared to cry quietly.

Prosecutors have decided not to proceed with a potential gang enhancement against Davis due to “witness logistics,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal said in court.

There was a former officer who would have given about 10 to 15 minutes of testimony, but “there are logistical issues on our end that prevent that from happening,” Palal said.

UPDATE:

Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur. Jurors reached their verdict after roughly three hours of deliberation on Monday.

The verdict was read to the court at 5:15 p.m. PDT in Judge Carli Kierny’s Las Vegas Courtroom.

This story will be updated.

PREVIOUS VERSION:

LAS VEGAS (Courtroom Insider) — With closing arguments completed, jurors have begun deliberations in the trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis for the murder of Tupac Shakur.

Soon after Clark County District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo delivered the prosecution’s rebuttal closing argument on Monday, Judge Carli Kierny dismissed four alternate jurors and gave the case to the remaining 12 jurors to decide. Deliberations began shortly before 2 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

During the prosecutions closing arguement, Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal urged jurors to convict Davis of first-degree murder, stating that Davis’ own words and a case “drenched in circumstantial evidence” prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he planned the drive-by shooting that ended Shakur’s life approximately 30 years ago, according to East Bay Times.

On Sep. 7, 1996, Shakur was riding in a BMW driven by Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside and opened fire on the vehicle. Shakur was shot multiple times and died nearly a week later; Knight survived the event.

RELATED | After 3 decades, a murder trial brings focus back to the legacy of Tupac Shakur

Prosecutors have said that Davis planned the killing of Shakur after Shakur and Davis’ nephew got in a fight in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel, KYMA-TV reports.

Following the fight, Davis acquired a gun and “went hunting” for Shakur and Knight, Palal told jurors. The chief deputy district attorney also pointed out that Davis’ story had changed over the years and argued that those changes reflected Davis’ efforts to protect himself.

Still, one critical detail that has remained consistent, Palal said, is that Davis repeatedly places himself inside the Cadillac from which the gunshots were fired.

Palal has also pointed to testimony from Shakur’s acquaintances identifying Davis as a suspect, telling jurors “who fired is not the question,” according to East Bay Times. Prosecutors do not say that Davis was the one who fired the weapon from the Cadillac, but they argue that Davis orchestrated the killing.

Davis’ defense, however, argued that Davis’ own admissions were embellished and exaggerated. Attorney Michael Sanft said Davis wasn’t even in Las Vegas at the time of the killing, according to KYMA.

The Associated Press reports that retired Las Vegas detective Dan Long, who appeared in court as a witness, tried in 2009 to verify Davis’ testimony of events, but was unable to.

The case remained unsolved for decades, until Davis began granting public interviews and released a memoir in 2019 — actions that revived scrutiny of Shakur’s killing.

Now, it’s a waiting game. Jurors can deliberate as long as they need to reach a consensus on whether Davis is guilty or not guilty.

Courtroom Insider has an eye on the courtroom and will bring you updates here as they are made available.

This story was originally published at 3:45 p.m. on Monday and has since been updated.