Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur was killed, the man convicted of arranging the rapper’s murder has received his sentence.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former gang leader, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison by a Las Vegas court on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
The sentence follows Davis’ conviction for first-degree murder involving a deadly weapon.
The case remained unsolved for years before his arrest and trial drew renewed attention.
During the hearing, Judge Carli Kierny stressed the lasting impact of Shakur’s death on his family and future.
“You don’t get to take a man from his family. You don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him, and just walk away from it. Especially when that man is Tupac Shakur,” the judge told the court.
Shakur was shot in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, he died in the hospital six days later, at age 25.
Hours before the shooting, Shakur and his entourage were involved in a fight with members of a rival Los Angeles gang.
Davis’ cousin was reportedly among those beaten during the incident.
Prosecutors said Davis later sought revenge. They alleged that he handed a gun to another person in a Cadillac and directed the individual to shoot Shakur.
The identity of the person who fired the shots has not been conclusively established publicly. Davis was convicted for his role in arranging the killing.
The case gained fresh attention after Davis discussed his involvement in interviews and a 2019 memoir.
Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo argued that Davis deserved the maximum sentence, saying he had tried to profit from the killing.
Davis’ lawyer has said he plans to appeal the conviction.
The Keffe D Tupac Shakur murder case became one of hip-hop’s most closely followed criminal cases.
Shakur was an award-winning rapper, actor and activist whose records sold more than 75 million copies worldwide.
