Former Crips boss Duane "Keffe D" Davis guilty of Tupac Shakur murder 30 years on from rapper's shooting
Davis organised the "revenge attack" after Shakur and members of his circle beat up his nephew following a Mike Tyson fight earlier that night
Former gang leader Duane "Keffe D" Davis has been found guilty of plotting the murder of Tupac Shakur, almost 30 years after the rapper's shooting.
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Davis, 63, was convicted by a jury on one count of murder with a deadly weapon, with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in the killing.
Shakur died a week after being hit in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 13th, 1996.
Standing in the dock wearing a black suit, Davis, the former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, said he would appeal the verdict.
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Some of Shakur's relatives cried and held hands in the public gallery of the courtroom in Clark County District Court, Las Vegas.
The then 25-year-old was riding in a black BMW driven by Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside them, and gunfire erupted.
Jurors heard that the defendant orchestrated the shooting after his nephew Orlando Anderson was involved in an altercation with Shakur in a Las Vegas casino, and said that he was the "on-ground, on-site commander" who "ordered the death".
Prosecutors claimed that while he did not fire the gun that killed Shakur, Davis ordered the shooting and supplied the gun that Anderson used to open fire.
Davis was arrested near his home in Las Vegas in September 2023.
Prosecutor Binu Palal told the court to take Davis at his word and find him guilty, following years of him telling people "that he is responsible for Tupac Shakur's murder" through documentaries, his memoir, podcasts and a police interview.
Mr Palal said: "He's the shot caller, in every instance in every iteration he's the leader of the South Side Crips.
"When you have the shot caller sitting shotgun when shots are fired, there's no doubt he's responsible."
His defence team repeatedly claimed that the comments were merely "fiction" and "bravado" and that there wasn't sufficient proof.
But the jury returned a verdict within a few hours of deliberations on Monday.
Davis has previously said he and three other men went looking for Shakur and Knight after Anderson was attacked.
He claimed he had been given a gun which he passed towards the back of the Cadillac before shots were fired into the BMW.
Davis told the judge "I would like my stuff" and confirmed he would be appealing the matter.
He is due to be sentenced next month and could be sentenced to life behind bars.