Former Gang Leader Convicted of Murdering Rapper Tupac Shakur

The killing of Tupac Shakur, one of the most famous unsolved crimes in the United States, ended in a conviction when a Las Vegas jury found Duane Davis guilty.

Jurors deliberated for only a few hours before determining that Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, had commissioned the murder. He could now face life in prison. Prosecutor Binu Palal argued that Davis organized the killing and obtained the weapon.

Davis’ defense challenged the case, saying that no evidence apart from his own statements linked the 63-year-old to the crime. His lawyers argued that he had invented stories to profit from them. Davis pleaded not guilty after his arrest in Las Vegas in 2023 on charges including murder with use of a deadly weapon.

But Davis had repeatedly spoken publicly about being in the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired. He said in interviews and in his autobiography that he was the only occupant still alive. In a 2008 interrogation, he said his nephew fired the fatal shots.

Shakur was shot in a car in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996, and died in hospital six days later. Known for songs including “California Love” and “Changes,” he sold millions of records worldwide and remains a defining figure in hip-hop.