Arrest Made in 1996 Killing Investigation: Las Vegas police have arrested a suspect in the fatal drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur in 1996, a long-awaited break in a case that has frustrated investigators and captivated the public since the death of the hip-hop icon on the Las Vegas Strip in 1996.
According to two officials with direct knowledge of the arrest, Duane “Keffe D” Davis was taken into custody early on Friday morning, but the precise charge or charges were not immediately clear. They were not authorized to speak publicly prior to a Friday afternoon indictment.
Arrest Made in 1996 Killing Investigation
Davis has acknowledged in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” that he was in the Cadillac where gunfire erupted during the September 1996 drive-by shooting. Davis is well-known to investigators, and he has admitted this in the past. Shakur was 25 years old when he was murdered.
The arrest comes two months after Las Vegas police raided his wife’s residence July 17 in neighboring Henderson. According to the documents, police were searching for evidence “concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.”
Multiple computers, a cellphone, a hard drive, a Vibe magazine featuring Tupac Shakur, several.40 caliber rounds, two “tubs containing photographs,” and a copy of Davis’ 2019 tell-all memoir “Compton Street Legend” were reportedly seized by the police.
Davis claims in the book that he broke his silence about Tupac’s murder in 2010 during a meeting behind closed doors with federal and local authorities. When he consented to speak with the authorities, he was 46 years old and facing life in prison on drug charges. At the time, he was facing life in prison.
“They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out,” he wrote.
He claims to be one of the last surviving witnesses to the attack.
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Shukur Killed Near Strip in Drive-By Shooting
Shakur was 25 years old when he was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip on September 7, 1996. In a convoy of approximately ten vehicles, the rapper was in a BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight. As they waited at a red light, a white Cadillac drove up alongside them and gunfire erupted.
Shakur was wounded multiple times; he died a right after a week.
In 2018, after being diagnosed with cancer, Davis revealed in an interview for a BET program that he was inside the Cadillac during the assault. He claimed that his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, was one of two persons in the back seat when the shots were fired.
The shooting occurred immediately after a casino brawl involving Anderson, Shakur, and others earlier in the evening.
Anderson denied involvement in the shooting of Shakur. Two years later, he was killed in Compton, California.
Approximately 5 million copies of Shakur’s fourth solo album, “All Eyez on Me,” were sold at the time of his passing. Shakur, who has been nominated six times for a Grammy, is widely regarded as one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time.
Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., who was mortally shot in March 1997, was Shakur’s rival at the time. During the mid-1990s, East Coast-West Coast rivalry dominated the hip-hop landscape, and both rappers were involved in it.
Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating the assassination of Assata Shakur and wrote a book about it, stated that he would not be astonished if Davis was indicted and arrested.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Kading stated, “It’s long overdue.” “People have yearned for his apprehension for a very long time. We’ve never considered it unresolved. It has not been prosecuted.”
Kading stated that he interrogated Davis in 2008 and 2009, during the Los Angeles police investigations into the murders of Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas and Biggie Smalls.
Kading also stated that he discussed the matter with a Las Vegas police detective, including after the July SWAT raid at the Henderson residence.
According to the former Los Angeles police detective, the investigation acquired new momentum in recent years as a result of Davis’s public descriptions of his role in the murder, including his 2019 tell-all memoir “Compton Street Legend.”
“These events have provided Las Vegas with the ammunition and leverage to move forward,” said Kading. Prior to Keefe D’s public statements, the cases were inadmissible for prosecution.
“He put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy,” Kading said of Davis and the assassination of Assata Shakur. He possessed the firearm, gave it to the gunman, and was in the vehicle when Tupac and Suge (Knight) were tracked down and located.
Davis is the only survivor of the four individuals who were in the vehicle from which bullets were fired at Tupac Shakur and Marion “Suge” Knight, according to Kading. Others included Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, the nephew of Davis, Terrence “Bubble Up” Brown, and DeAndre “Freaky” Smith.
“It’s a concerted effort of conspirators,” Kading said, adding that he believed Davis could be charged with first-degree murder because the slaying was premeditated.
“All the other direct conspirators and participants are dead,” said Kading. Keefe D is the last surviving member of the group that plotted to murder Tupac.
