A Las Vegas jury has convicted Duane Davis of first-degree murder for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed rap icon Tupac Shakur, delivering the first conviction in a case that remained unresolved for nearly three decades. The Associated Press and Reuters reported that jurors returned the verdict on Monday, August 31, after deliberating for less than three hours following an 11-day trial in Clark County District Court.
Davis, 63, was found guilty of one count of murder with a deadly weapon. Reuters reported that sentencing is scheduled for October 13 and that he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Davis told the judge that he plans to appeal, according to Reuters. Prosecutors said they would dismiss a separate gang-enhancement component because of witness logistics, the AP reported.
Prosecutors argued that Davis obtained a firearm and led a group searching for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion Suge Knight after Shakur and members of his entourage beat Davis's nephew at a Las Vegas casino on September 7, 1996. They said Davis repeatedly placed himself in the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired and supplied the weapon, even though they did not accuse him of pulling the trigger. Nevada law allows an accomplice who helps organize a killing to be held responsible for murder.
The state's case relied heavily on Davis's own accounts in a 2008 confidential interview with investigators, later media appearances and his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. Prosecutors said those accounts contained details that had not been public and showed a consistent admission of participation. Defense lawyer Michael Sanft maintained that the stories were uncorroborated boasting told for money, challenged the lack of physical evidence and argued that police misconduct and missing records undermined the investigation.
Shakur was 25 when gunfire struck the BMW in which he was riding with Knight near the Las Vegas Strip. Knight survived his injuries, while Shakur died six days later. The artist had five No. 1 albums, earned six Grammy nominations and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. His death became one of music's most enduring unsolved cases and a defining episode in the history of 1990s hip-hop.
Shakur's sister Sekyiwa Shakur cried and embraced prosecutors after the verdict, while members of Davis's family also watched from the courtroom, according to the AP. The conviction closes the trial phase but not the legal case: the court must now decide Davis's sentence on October 13, and his announced appeal could bring further review of the interviews, memoir and circumstantial evidence that persuaded the jury.
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