Tupac killer Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis sentenced to 40 years to life in prison

Published: 05:04 EDT, 14 October 2026 | Updated: 05:04 EDT, 14 October 2026

Duane Davis, the former Crips boss convicted of the 1996 slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur, was sentenced on Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison.

Davis, 63, was convicted in August of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. Judge Carli Kierny sentenced him in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Speaking about the legendary rapper, the judge said: ‘The world never forgot about him and his death.’

Long sentence: Duane Davis, 63, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday for the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur

Early death: Tupac was killed at the age of 25 on September 7, 1996

Tupac’s siblings, Sekyiwa ‘Set’ Shakur and Maurice Shakur, gave emotional impact statements during the sentencing, with Sekyiwa calling the night of her brother’s death ‘a night of hunting and murdering.’

She said: ‘He was my shining star – my prince.’

Maurice said his brother was never given a trial, calling Tupac’s death ‘devastating’ for his family and fans.

Deep pain: Sekyiwa ‘Set’ Shakur, Tupac’s sister, asked the judge to hand down the maximum sentence in an emotional impact statement during the hearing

Sekyiwa called on the judge to deliver the maximum sentence, asking for Davis to be punished for the pain he caused to her family and the world.

She praised Shakur as her protector, confessing through tears that she was forced to live three decades without his protection.

Sekyiwa admitted that her brother’s death ‘crippled [her] family emotionally,’ noting that she has since been hospitalized multiple times for depression, suicidal ideation, trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

No emotion: Davis sat stone-faced while the judge delivered his sentence of 40 years to life

Davis listened to Sekyiwa’s testimony in shackles and prison clothes. He appeared stone-faced as Tupac’s sister broke down over her brother’s murder.

Sekyiwa said: ‘Both of my children were raised in my grief, so they have trust issues, abandonment issues, relationship issues.’

She noted that her brother was murdered just after he turned 25 years old, imploring the judge to consider what the world would have been like if he were still alive.

She praised her brother for his art, adding that he had manifestos and aspirations for advocacy.

Emotional moment: Sekyiwa broke down in tears when discussing the emotional impact her brother’s death has had on her family

Sekyiwa compared her brother to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, asking the courtroom to imagine what would have happened if they were killed before the age of 26.

She tearfully said: ‘I miss my brother. I miss the scars on his head. I miss the way he ate. I miss his recipe for barbecue chicken. I miss his laugh. He was sloppy with his laugh. So full, so big.

‘I was the little sister that just wanted to be with her brother.’

More family: Maurice Shakur, Tupac’s brother, said his brother was never given a trial, calling Tupac’s death ‘devastating’ for his family and pop culture

Before Davis was handed his sentence, Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo said he would be ‘guaranteed to die’ behind bars.

DiGiacomo argued that Shakur’s death meant more than just the killing of a family member, adding that Davis was trying to profit off the killing.

Prosecutors argued Davis planned the strike after Shakur’s entourage attacked his nephew, Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson, a few hours earlier at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas following a Mike Tyson fight.

Davis then allegedly supplied the weapon and set in motion the shooting that killed the hip-hop icon, but did not pull the trigger.

The prosecution pointed to a 2008 agreement Davis reached with federal investigators who were looking into the death of Christopher Wallace, who was known as Biggie Smalls.

Davis was approached about the murder of Wallace, but instead talked about the Shakur shooting.

He had allegedly believed the deal, called a proffer, offered him immunity, but was not shielded from any future prosecution on state murder charges.

Infamous case: Tupac was killed in a drive-by shooting where he was sat next to Suge Knight. The rapper was photographed above just minutes before his death

The final piece of the puzzle came when Davis published his memoir, Compton Street Legend, in 2019.

He described his role in Shakur’s murder, which led to a renewed investigation into the 1996 killing.

Davis recalled in his memoir how Shakur and his entourage beat his nephew up hours before the drive-by shooting.

He claimed that the alleged assault motivated the shooting, writing that he was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac and passed the gun to the backseat before shots were fired.

Davis is the only person ever charged in the killing. The three other passengers of the Cadillac have since died.

Davis’s attorneys argued during the trial that there was a lack of physical evidence that connected him to the killing.

After nine days of testimony, the jury deliberated for three hours and returned a guilty verdict. The defense now plans to appeal.