By Latiifah Amusan
Las Vegas police have arrested Duane “Keffe D” Davis in connection with the deadly 1996 drive-by shooting of iconic hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur.
This arrest marks a significant breakthrough in a case that has remained unsolved for 27 years, captivating the public’s imagination and frustrating investigators.
The exact charges against Davis have yet to be disclosed, pending an expected indictment later today.
Davis, a known figure in the investigation, had previously confessed to his involvement in interviews and his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”
He admitted to being present in the Cadillac during the September 1996 drive-by shooting that claimed Tupac Shakur’s life.
This development follows a raid on Davis’s wife’s home in Henderson two months ago, during which authorities seized various items related to the Tupac Shakur murder case, including computers, a cellphone, hard drive, a Vibe magazine featuring Shakur, .40-caliber bullets, photographs, and a copy of Davis’s memoir.
In his book, Davis revealed that he had broken his silence about Tupac’s killing in 2010 during a closed-door meeting with federal and local authorities.
Allegedly, he cooperated with authorities in exchange for leniency on drug charges he was facing at the time.
Tupac Shakur, the influential and versatile rapper, was just 25 years old when he was fatally shot during the drive-by attack near the Las Vegas Strip on September 7, 1996.
He was in a BMW driven by Marion “Suge” Knight, the founder of Death Row Records, when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them at a red light, leading to a hail of gunfire.
Shakur succumbed to his injuries a week later.
The motive behind the shooting was suspected to be linked to a casino brawl earlier in the evening involving Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Tupac Shakur, and others.
Anderson, one of the individuals in the back seat of the Cadillac, denied involvement and later died in a separate shooting in Compton, California.
This development has rekindled interest in the East Coast-West Coast rivalry of the mid-1990s, with Tupac Shakur’s feud with Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G., gaining attention.
Biggie Smalls was fatally shot in March 1997, further fueling speculation about the connections between the two murders.
Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who extensively investigated both cases and authored a book on them, expressed his lack of surprise at Davis’s arrest.
Kading believes that Davis’s public disclosures about his role in the murder, particularly in his 2019 memoir, played a pivotal role in reinvigorating the investigation.
Kading emphasized Davis’s central role in the conspiracy, from acquiring the murder weapon to being present in the vehicle during the fatal attack.
With all other direct participants in the shooting now deceased, Kading suggests that Davis could face a first-degree murder charge for his involvement.
