It’s been nearly three decades since Tupac Shakur was gunned down on a Las Vegas street while riding in a vehicle with former record executive and friend Marion “Suge” Knight. The case went unsolved for the last 27 years and there have been no arrests; until now.
Here’s everything we know about the man who was arrested and indicted for the murder of one of the greatest rappers of all time.
What happened the night Tupac Shakur was killed?
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On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Tupac attended the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon boxing match at the MGM Grand Casino. The “California Love” artist took in the fight with Knight, who at the time was the head of Death Row Records.
Later that evening Pac, Knight, and others were involved in a brawl with Compton Crip member Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson after one of Knight’s associates claimed that Anderson tried to steal his Death Row Records medallion. The incident, which was caught on MGM’s surveillance footage, was broken up by the casino’s security.
Following the scuffle, Tupac and Knight headed to a nightclub but as they sat in Knight’s car at a red light on East Flamingo Road a white Cadillac pulled up next to them and fired several shots into the vehicle before speeding away. Knight was grazed in the head by a bullet fragment and Tupac was hit in his chest, arm, and leg.
Everything we know about the man charged with Tupac Shakur’s murder
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Tupac was transported to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. He died from his injuries six days later on Sept. 13, 1996. He was 25 years old.
Orlando Anderson was suspected in the shooting death of the hip-hop icon but never charged. Anderson was fatally shot in a gang-related shooting on May 29, 1998.
On Sept. 29, 2023, Las Vegas police made an arrest in the murder of Tupac. Duane “Keffe D” Davis was picked up during an early-morning walk near his home in suburban Henderson, Nevada, and taken into custody. Davis, who is now 60 years old, is also Anderson’s uncle.
As USA Today reported, Davis was born in Compton, California. He is known in the entertainment world as “Keffe D” and is a self-professed member of the South Side Compton Crips. Today, he is the only living witness who was in the Cadillac the night of Tupac’s slaying.
Davis had been a suspect in the case over the years and publicly admitted to his involvement in the killing during interviews ahead of the release of his 2019 memoir titled Compton Street Legend.
“There’s one thing that’s for sure when living that gangster lifestyle. You already know that the stuff you put out is going to come back,” Davis wrote in his book. “You never know how or when, but there’s never a doubt that it’s coming.”
Davis also revealed he was the front passenger of the Cadillac that pulled up next to Knight’s car and handed a .40-caliber handgun to his nephew in the backseat where the shots rang out from. Therefore, even though Davis is not accused of actually pulling the trigger, he provided the gun and in the State of Nevada a person can be convicted of murder for helping another person commit the crime.
