Lieutenant Jason Johansson and Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Homicide Division at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced the arrest of Duane “Keffe D” Davis for the death of rapper Tupac. This was reported on Friday:
Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1997, near the Las Vegas Strip. Shakur and his manager Marion Hugh Knight were riding in a convoy with ten other vehicles. A lone vehicle pulled up to the Shakur vehicle at a red light and started shooting. Shakur succumbed to his injuries a few days later, the case has been unsolved ever since.
Two officials with first-hand knowledge of the arrest confirm Duane “Keffe D.” Davis was arrested on Friday morning. Officials are unable to confirm the charges, but they have first-hand information about the arrest.
Investigators are familiar with Davis. In interviews and in his 2019 book “Compton Street Legend,” Shakur has acknowledged that he was driving the Cadillac at the time of the September 1996 drive-by shooting. He was only 25 when he died.
According to Johansson, Shakur “closely” associated with his manager Marion “Shug Knight” and the criminal “Mob Piru” street gang. They are a “Blood Set”, a black street gang, that has its roots in the east side of Compton of Los Angeles County. The “South Side Compton Crips”, a black criminal street gang, was their historical rival. Duane Davi’s role as the “shot caller” at that time was to lead the “South Side Compton Crips”.
Shakur, Knight, and other members of the “Mob Piru” were all leaving MGM Grand Garden Arena after a Mike Tyson boxing match. Duane and South Side Compton Crips were also in attendance. Orlando Anderson, Davis’s grandson, was attacked by the “Mob Piru” members who were present with Shakur as both groups left.
Davis devised revenge against Shakur, Knight, and their entourage. According to Lt. Johansson. Davis then got a gun to go searching for them. He and others got in a Cadillac and pulled up to the BMW that Shakur drove. They then started shooting at Shakur who was in the passenger’s seat.
Johansson stated that although they had access to the information Davis provided in the briefing, they did not have sufficient evidence to show it to a Grand Jury. It was only in 2018 that the detectives were able to utilize the statements Davis made to various media outlets regarding the incident. The team gathered enough evidence and information over the past five years to obtain a search warrant almost two months before. It was from this evidence that more evidence was collected and presented to the Grand Jury. They returned a verdict for “open murder with deadly weapons” as well as an enhancement of gang.
Davis’ arraignment and bail hearing will take place in a few weeks. This long-running cold case is now officially over. It will be a while before we know if Davis has been convicted. Now that the trial is complete, the end is near.
You can watch the entire press conference in the video below.
