Former gang leader convicted of Tupac Shakur’s murder

Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur was killed in Las Vegas, a jury found former gang leader Duane Davis guilty of orchestrating the rapper’s murder.

The 12-member jury unanimously convicted Davis, 63, of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon. The charge carries a possible sentence of life in prison without parole. Davis said after the verdict that he planned to appeal.

Prosecutors accused Davis of leading a group of men who went after the 25-year-old rapper in retaliation for an attack on Davis’ nephew. Shakur was killed on Sept. 13, 1996, in a shooting that became one of the defining cases in rap history.

Police had long suspected Davis, but prosecutors said they lacked enough evidence to charge him until he discussed the killing publicly in media appearances and an autobiography. Those statements, together with recordings of secret meetings with investigators, formed most of the prosecution’s case.

The trial began on Aug. 17. Prosecutors played hours of recordings in which Davis described his anger after Shakur and his entourage beat his nephew at a Las Vegas casino. Davis was accused of organizing the response, even though prosecutors did not identify him as the shooter. Under Nevada law, he could still face a murder conviction as the alleged organizer.

Shakur’s death reinforced the violent image associated with hip-hop during the height of gangsta rap, an era marked by conflicts between artists and groups linked to the U.S. East and West coasts.