Las Vegas, NV – After a decades-long investigation, an arrest has been made in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis, 60, was taken into custody on Friday, following a grand jury indictment on charges of murder with use of a deadly weapon.
The arrest marks a significant development in a case that has been shrouded in mystery and conspiracy theories for over 25 years. Shakur, who was only 25 at the time of his death, was shot and killed while leaving a boxing match on the Las Vegas Strip. The investigation into his murder has been ongoing, with Davis long considered a person of interest.
According to authorities, Davis was the mastermind behind a plot to kill Shakur in retaliation for an attack on his nephew. Davis has previously admitted to being in the front seat of the white Cadillac that pulled up next to Shakur’s car when shots were fired from the back seat, resulting in Shakur’s death six days later.
“Duane Davis was the shot-caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime. He orchestrated the plan that was carried out to commit this crime,” said Jason Johansson, the police department’s homicide lieutenant. The other individuals associated with the crime have since died, including Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, who was suspected of being the shooter.
The case was “reinvigorated” in 2018, with Davis’ own admissions about the crime playing a crucial role in the investigation. When police searched Davis’ wife’s home in July, they seized a copy of his memoir, in which he describes himself as one of only two living witnesses to Shakur’s shooting.
Davis had confessed to the crime to police in 2009, but due to a proffer agreement, the information could not be used against him. A proffer is an agreement in which a suspect agrees to provide potentially useful information in an investigation, but the statements made generally cannot be used as evidence against the suspect.
The arrest has been described as “bittersweet” by Shakur’s stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, who questioned why it took so long for Davis to be arrested despite his public admissions