Tupac murder suspect arrested and named as Duane Davis

Nevada man Duane Davis has been indicted for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.

Las Vegas police arrested the 60-year-old on Friday morning.

Mr Davis, 60, was the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of the legendary hip-hop star, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo.

The rapper’s stepbrother Mopreme Shakur told CNN this moment is “bittersweet.”

“We have been through decades of pain. They have known about this guy, who been running his mouth, for years,” he said.

“So why now?” he added. “For us, this is not over. We want to know why, and if there were any accomplices.”

In July, the Vegas police raided a home connected to the man in the nearby city of Henderson as part of their ongoing investigation.

Shakur was shot in a drive-by shooting in Vegas on 7 September, 1996.

Key Points

• Suspect Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis charged with 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur

• After years, a break in the case of Tupac Shakur’s murder

• What we know about the arrest in the Tupac Shakur case

• WATCH: Bodycam footage shows surprise raid of home in Tupac Shakur murder investigation

• Tupac’s family reacts to arrest of Duane Davis

After years, a break in the case of Tupac Shakur’s death

Friday 29 September 2023 17:53 , Josh Marcus

Las Vegas police on Friday reportedly arrested a man in connection with the 1996 shooting death of rapper Tupac Shakur.

The case has remained unsolved for decades.

We’ll be covering all the developments in the story, so stay tuned with The Independent.

What we know about the arrest in the Tupac Shakur case

Friday 29 September 2023 17:55 , Josh Marcus

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Friday arrested a man tied to the mysterious death of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed in a 1996 drive-by attack in the city.

Law enforcement sources told the AP the man had long been known to law enforcement, and spoke openly of being in the car with Shakur’s killer.

The arrest may be tied to a July search the LVMPD conducted on a house outside of Vegas.

Here’s Bevan Hurley’s report to get up to speed.

Las Vegas police arrest suspect for 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, says report

Friday 29 September 2023 17:58 , Josh Marcus

A suspect has finally been arrested for the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, according to a report.

Sources told The Associated Press on Friday that a man had been taken into custody on suspicion of the deadly drive-by shooting which has gone unsolved for almost three decades.

The arrest comes just two months after the Nevada home of Duane Keith Davis – a member of the Southside Compton Crips gang known as Keefe D, Keefy D or Keffe D – was raided by Las Vegas police and a string of evidence seized in connection to the cold case.

Keffe D, who is the uncle of the late prime suspect in the case Orlando Anderson, has claimed on multiple occasions that he witnessed the rapper’s murder.

Rachel Sharp has the details.

What evidence have police seized in Tupac investigation?

Friday 29 September 2023 18:15 , Josh Marcus

The arrest Friday of a man allegedly connected to the 1996 death of Tupac Shakur isn’t the only recent development in the long-running cold case.

Back in July, Vegas police searched a home in Henderson, Nevada, seizing magazine articles on Tupac, computers, hard drives, and pictures from the 1990s.

The search took place at the Nevada home of Duane Keith Davis – a member of the Southside Compton Crips gang known as Keefe D, Keefy D or Keffe D.

All told, five computers, tablets and an iPhone were taken from his home.

The most bizarre conspiracy theories surrounding Tupac Shakur’s murder

Friday 29 September 2023 18:26 , Josh Marcus

Tupac Shakur, one of gangsta rap’s greatest icons, was mortally wounded in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on the night of 7 September 1996.

The black BMW 750 sedan he was riding in with Death Row Records boss Suge Knight was suddenly fired upon from a rented white Cadillac that had pulled up longside the vehicle, as it idled at traffic lights at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane.

Tupac, 25, had failed to notice the danger as he flirted playfully with a carload of female fans on the passenger side of his car.

He was hit four times as the mystery gunman fired 14 shots from a Glock semi-automatic pistol, with one bullet tearing through his right lung.

Here are some of the many theories about who was responsible for the killing, as collected by Joe Sommerlad.

Bizarre conspiracy theories surrounding Tupac Shakur’s murder

Have police named a suspect in their recent Tupac-related arrest?

Friday 29 September 2023 18:36 , Josh Marcus

Las Vegas police haven’t officially named the individual who they arrested on Friday in connection with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

The records department of the Las Vegas jail system also told The Independent’s Rachel Sharp that a man named in media reports as the suspect hasn’t officially been booked into the system.

Until we get official law enforcement confirmation, we will not be publishing the reported suspect’s name.

WATCH: Bodycam footage shows surprise raid of home in Tupac Shakur murder investigation

Friday 29 September 2023 19:04 , Josh Marcus

Prior to the still-unnamed suspect’s arrest on Friday in the Tupac case, body camera footage from July captures the moment a Las Vegas SWAT team raided a home in connection with the unsolved murder.

ABC News obtained 13 hours of footage from the 17 July nighttime raid on the home of Duane Keith Davis, 60, who has said he witnessed Shakur’s killing in a 1996 drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip.

The video shows several armoured vehicles move into Henderson, a suburb 15 miles (24kms) southwest of Las Vegas.

As armed Las Vegas Metropolitan police department officers surround the property, an officer calls over a loud hailer that they have a search warrant and for the occupants to “come out with your hands up and your hands empty”.

Bevan Hurley reports.

Officials name suspect in Tupac murder: Duane Davis

Friday 29 September 2023 19:24 , Josh Marcus

Prosecutors on Friday named Duane “Keffe D” Davis of Nevada in a murder indictment for the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Mr Davis, 60, was the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of the legendary hip-hop star, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo.

Mr Davis, who has previously admitted to being in the car from which Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting, was arrested on Friday morning near his home.

He has been denied bail.

Suspect Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis charged with 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur

Friday 29 September 2023 19:47 , Josh Marcus

A suspect has finally been arrested and charged with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 60, was indicted on charges of murder and the use of a deadly weapon in the fatal drive-by shooting which has gone unsolved for almost three decades, according to authorities.

A Nevada grand jury indicted Mr Davis in the killing, prosecutors announced in court hours after he was arrested. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo told the court that a grand jury had been seated in the case for “several months.”

Mr DiGiacomo went on to describe Mr Davis as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

Graeme Massie reports.

Suspect Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis charged with 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur

Watch: Keefe D 'confesses to involvement' in rapper's murder after cancer diagnosis

Friday 29 September 2023 20:07 , Josh Marcus

Duane Davis, who was arrested and indicted on Friday for the murder of Tupac Shakur in 1996, has previously admitted to being there the moment the famed rapper was killed.

“When we pulled up, I was in the front seat,” he said of the drive-by shooting in an interview for the American crime documentary Unsolved: the Tupac and Biggie Murders, though he declined to name the shooter at the time.

“Going to keep it for the code of the streets,” he said. “It just came from the backseat.”

Previously, Mr Davis has claimed fellow gang member Orlando Anderon, who has since died in an unrelated gang shooting, was the one who pulled the trigger.

Vegas suspect in Tupac murder described killing in depth in 2019 memoir

Friday 29 September 2023 20:32 , Josh Marcus

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man indicted on Friday for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, wrote at length about his alleged role in the killing in a 2019 tell-all memoir.

Mr Davis alleged that Tupac appeared to be grabbing a gun, so his car full of associates opened fire.

“Tupac made an errative move and began to reach down beneath his seat,” Mr Davis writes.

“One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back,” he continued.

The Nevada man explained the shooting as a response to a previous altercation between Tupac and a member of the South Side Crip gang.

Tupac investigation is ‘far from over,’ Las Vegas sheriff says

Friday 29 September 2023 20:56 , Josh Marcus

A suspect may have been charged, but the investigation into Tupac Shakur’s murder is “far from over,” according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.

“While I know there have been many people who did not believe the murder of Tupac Shakur was important to this department, I am here to tell you that is simply not the case,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a news conference on Friday. “It was not the case back then, and it is not the case today.”

Watch the full press conference here.

Duane Davis described Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder in gruesome detail. Now he’s been arrested for it

Friday 29 September 2023 21:12 , Josh Marcus

He is a former Southside Compton Crips gang member and one of the last people ever to see rapper Tupac Shakur alive.

Now Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been arrested and charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon in the 1996 killing of the renowned rapper on the Las Vegas strip.

Mr Davis was arrested by police near his home on the outskirts of Las Vegas on Friday 29 September, hours after a grand jury returned an indictment against him.

Prosecutors then appeared in court where they described him as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

Graeme Massie has the details on what led police to bring the suspect in.

Duane Davis described Tupac’s murder in gory detail. Now he’s been arrested for it

Vegas suspect was ‘shot-caller’ who planned to kill Tupac

Friday 29 September 2023 21:47 , Josh Marcus

Duane Davis, who was indicted on Friday for the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996, didn’t pull the trigger, but Las Vegas police say he’s nonetheless responsible for the hip-hop icon’s death.

“Duane Davis was the shot-caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime,” homicide lieutenant Jason Johansson said during a press conference on Friday. “He orchestrated the plan that was carried out.”

Police described Mr Davis, who has not yet entered a plea, as a leader in the Southside Compton Crips gang, who were in a conflict with a gang associated with Shakur.

How a series of media interviews gave Vegas PD a suspect in the Tupac case

Friday 29 September 2023 22:20 , Josh Marcus

Las Vegas police say they knew most of the basic facts about Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder in a matter of weeks, but they never got the kind of conclusive evidence that could put someone away.

That changed in 2018, when a Southern California gang leader named Duane Davis began speaking about his alleged role in the killing as a leader in the Southside Compton Crips.

“This case was reinvigorated as additional information came to light related to his homicide, especially Duane Davis’s own admissions to his involvement in this homicide he provided to numerous different media outlets,” Lieutenant Johansson said.

Indeed, in the 2018 Netflix documentary Unsolved: The Tupac and Biggie Murders and in his book Compton Street Legend which he published in 2019, Keffe D claimed that his nephew Orlando Anderson fatally shot Tupac – and that he was in the car with him when he opened fire.

“Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat,” Mr Davis writes in the book.

“It was the first and only time in my life that I could relate to the police command, ‘Keep your hands where I can see them.’ Instead, Pac pulled out a strap, and that’s when the fireworks started.

“One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”

Mr Davis was arrested and indicted on murder charges on Friday, 29 September, with police accusing him of being the ‘shot-caller’ who orchestrated Tupac’s death.

What are the charges against Duane Davis over Tupac’s murder?

Friday 29 September 2023 22:50 , Josh Marcus

Duane Davis has been charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur.

Even though he isn’t thought to have shot the rapper himself in 1996, police described Mr Davis as the “shot-caller” who planned the retaliatory gang shooting that claimed the rapper’s life.

Mr Davis is charged with one count of open murder with use of a deadly weapon, a charge strengthened with a gang enhancement.

He has not yet entered a plea.

Tupac’s family is ‘pleased’ with indictment of murder suspect Duane Davis

Friday 29 September 2023 23:20 , Josh Marcus

Tupac Shakur’s family is relieved that a suspect is in custody for the rapper’s 1996 murder, according to law enforcement officials.

“The family has reached out to my office,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said during a press conference on Friday. “We’ve been in communication with them. We understand they are welcoming this news. They are pleased with this news.”

The DA said the family would be “involved” with the case against suspect Duane Davis going forward.

Tupac’s family reacts to arrest of Duane Davis

Friday 29 September 2023 23:48 , Josh Marcus

Tupac Shakur’s family greeted the news a suspect has been arrested in the hip-hop star’s 1996 murder with a mix of feelings.

The rapper’s stepbrother Mopreme Shakur told CNN this moment is “bittersweet.”

“We have been through decades of pain. They have known about this guy, who been running his mouth, for years,” he said.

“So why now?” he added. “For us, this is not over. We want to know why, and if there were any accomplices.”

Read the indictment against Duane Davis

Saturday 30 September 2023 00:15 , Josh Marcus

Officials in Clark County have released the indictment against Duane Davis, who is charged with murder in the 1996 shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur.

The indictment doesn’t contain many more details than what authorities have told us today, but it does contain one interesting wrinkle: suggesting Mr Davis may have killed Tupac himself.

The Nevada man has said he directed the plot to kill the rapper, and was in the car with the gunman, but hasn’t ever claimed responsibility for the shooting itself.

The indictment, however, describes how Mr Davis as being charged with “directly committing this crime; and/or...aiding or abetting in the commission of this crime.”

Read the full document below.

What’s next in the Tupac murder investigation?

Saturday 30 September 2023 00:45 , Josh Marcus

As far as the Las Vegas police department is concerned, Duane Davis is the only remaining suspect in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

“In this case, the only living suspect related to this investigation is Duane Davis,” Las Vegas homicide lieutenant Jason Johansson said at a press on Friday. “All other 3 suspects are deceased.”

If Duane Davis didn’t shoot Tupac, why is he being charged with murder?

01:45 , Josh Marcus

Even though Duane Davis has been charged with murder in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, police aren’t necessarily saying the Nevada man was the one who pulled the trigger.

Instead, officers have described Mr Davis, who was a gang leader in California, as being the “shot-caller” behind the plot that killed Shakur.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wilson explained during a press conference on Friday that the situation was akin to charging the getaway driver for their role in a bank robbery, even if the driver never set foot in the building being robbed.

Many wonder, why did it take so long to arrest Duane Davis after he confessed?

02:45 , Josh Marcus

Many in the hip-hop community are questioning why it took so long for Las Vegas police to arrest Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a Nevada man who has confessed publicly for years to have been involved in the 1996 attack that killed rapper Tupac Shakur.

After Mr. Davis’s arrest was announced on Friday, many on social media argued he could’ve been brought in sooner.

“Only took a decade of video interview confessions to make this happen,” hip-hop writer Andrew Barber wrote on X. “RIP Tupac.”

In both the 2018 Netflix documentary Unsolved: The Tupac and Biggie Murders and in his book Compton Street Legend which he published in 2019, Keffe D claimed that his nephew Orlando Anderson fatally shot Tupac – and that he was in the car with him when he opened fire.

“Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat,” he writes in the book.

“It was the first and only time in my life that I could relate to the police command, ‘Keep your hands where I can see them.’ Instead, Pac pulled out a strap, and that’s when the fireworks started.

“One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”

In the memoir, Mr Davis says that he was in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac and had slipped the Glock pistol into the back seat where his nephew sat.

WATCH: Duane Davis had already confessed to role in Tupac death before arrest

04:45 , Josh Marcus

Duane Davis confessed multiple times in media interviews that he was in the car used to carry out a drive-by shooting against Tupac in 1996.

For instance, he spoke at length with VladTV about the night of the shooting.

Watch his full remarks below.

Watch: One of the many times Duane Davis confessed to being involved in Tupac killing

05:45 , Josh Marcus

Long before police arrested Duane Davis for the murder of Tupac Shakur, he confessed to his deep involvement in the 1996 slaying.

Mr Davis told a Netflix documentary he knew the individual who shot Tupac because he was sitting in the car with the gunman.

The gang leader said he wouldn’t directly name the shooter, though.

“Going to keep it for the code of the streets,” Mr Davis told the cameras. “It just came from the backseat, bro.”

Elsewhere, Mr Davis has described sliding a gun into the backseat of the car before they encountered Tupac.

Police had warning signs Duane Davis was involved in Tupac killing

06:45 , Josh Marcus

He is a former Southside Compton Crips gang member and one of the last people ever to see rapper Tupac Shakur alive.

Now Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been arrested and charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon in the 1996 killing of the renowned rapper on the Las Vegas strip.

Mr Davis was arrested by police near his home on the outskirts of Las Vegas on Friday 29 September, hours after a grand jury returned an indictment against him.

Prosecutors then appeared in court where they described him as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

Graeme Massie reports on how the Vegas PD made a massive break in the Tupac case. by arresting Duane Davis.

Duane Davis described Tupac’s murder in gory detail. Now he’s been arrested for it

How is Tupac’s family reacting to arrest of suspect?

07:45 , Josh Marcus

The family of Tupac Shakur are “pleased” that a man has been charged with his murder following his 1996 drive-by shooting, Las Vegas district attorney Steve Wolfson said on Friday.

“The family has reached out to my office, I imagine also to (police), we’ve been in communication with them,” he said.

“We understand that they are welcoming this news, they are pleased with this news and they are certainly aware of the return of this indictment.”

Family of Tupac Shakur ‘pleased’ by murder charge, district attorney says

It was the most famous cold case in rap history. Then the Vegas PD solved it.

08:45 , Josh Marcus

Twenty seven years after Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas strip, an alleged gang leader was arrested on 29 September and charged with the hip-hop icon’s murder.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Duane “Keffe D” Davis was the leader of a plot by the Southside Compton Crips gang to kill Tupac, after the rapper and his entourage fought a member of the gang following a Mike Tyson fight on 7 September, 1996.

“Duane Davis was the shot-caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime,” homicide lieutenant Jason Johansson said during a press conference after the arrest. “He orchestrated the plan that was carried out.”

Police said Mr Davis, who has not yet entered a plea, and three others pulled alongside Tupac in a white Cadillac later on 7 September. Someone inside the car opened fire on the BMW where the rapper was sitting.

How Las Vegas police caught Tupac’s alleged murderer after three decades

WATCH: Man charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur in 1996

09:45 , Josh Marcus

Las Vegas Police has announced a suspect has been charged for the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

“For 27 years the family of Tupac Shakur has been waiting for justice,” Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a press conference on Friday (28 September). “We are here today to announce the arrest of 60-year-old Duane Davis AKA ‘Keffe D’ for the murder of Tupac Shakur.”

Davis has long been known to investigators and has himself admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” that he was in the car from which Shakur was shot.

A Nevada grand jury indicted Davis on one count of murder with a deadly weapon.

Watch below via Independent TV.

Man charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur in 1996, Las Vegas police announce

What you need to know about the man who allegedly murdered Tupac

10:45 , Josh Marcus

A suspect has finally been arrested and charged with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 60, was indicted on charges of murder and the use of a deadly weapon in the fatal drive-by shooting which has gone unsolved for almost three decades, according to authorities.

A Nevada grand jury indicted Mr Davis in the killing, prosecutors announced in court hours after he was arrested. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo told the court that a grand jury had been seated in the case for “several months.”

Mr DiGiacomo went on to describe Mr Davis as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.

Las Vegas police arrested the suspect as he walked near his home in the city on Friday morning.

Here’s what you need to know.

Suspect Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis charged with 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur

Everything we know about the arrest in the Tupac murder cast

12:45 , Josh Marcus

An arrest has been made in Tupac Shakur‘s killing, the latest twist in one of the biggest unsolved cases in hip-hop history.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis was arrested on suspicion of murder early Friday morning, according to two officials with first-hand knowledge of the arrest. They were not authorized to speak publicly ahead of an expected indictment later Friday.

The case returned to the spotlight in July when Nevada authorities served a search warrant in connection with the rap star’s shooting death.

Here’s what to know about one of the most infamous fatal shootings in hip-hop history:

An arrest has been made in Tupac Shakur's killing. Here's what we know about the case and the rapper

Las Vegas police videos show moments before home is raided in Tupac Shakur cold case

13:44 , Josh Marcus

Dozens of Las Vegas police body camera videos showed the moment a man and his wife exited a home raided in July in connection with the cold case killing of rapper Tupac Shakur.

The heavily redacted footage obtained Thursday by The Associated Press did not provide a view into the home or identify the couple, whose faces were blurred from view. But a copy of the warrant said police were searching on the night of July 17 for items “concerning the murder” of Shakur from Duane “Keffe D” Davis, one of the last surviving witnesses to a crime that has fascinated the public for decades.

Rio Yamat reports.

Las Vegas police videos show moments before home is raided in Tupac Shakur cold case