A Las Vegas jury convicted former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis of masterminding the drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996.
The jury deliberated on Monday for about 90 minutes before they found Davis guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon and criminal gang activity.
He faces life in prison when he is sentenced.
Prosecutors say Davis was riding in a white Cadillac with other South Side Compton Crips gang members on the night of September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas.
They were hunting Shakur who had ambushed Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel after attending the Mike Tyson fight.
Davis allegedly handed the murder weapon to either his nephew or another man who was in the backseat of a car.
Shakur was shot multiple times and died on September 13, 1996, after undergoing emergency.
Prosecutors cited Davis’ own statements about the murder in his memoir, interviews and on social media, according to prosecutors.
“For nearly 18 years, Duane Davis has told the police, television, books, YouTube interviewers — anybody that will listen, he has told — he is responsible for the murder of Tupac Shakur,” said prosecutor Binu Palal on his closing arguments. “Tell him you hear him — find him guilty.”
Davis, who was a federal snitch for years, implicated incarcerated rap mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs in the hit on Shakur.
Prosecutors submitted into evidence a secret recording made by police in which Davis claims that Combs offered him $1 million to kill Tupac.
Davis has since backtracked on his claims.
In 1998, broadcast journalist Stephanie Frederic scored an exclusive sit-down interview with Davis’s nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Shakur’s alleged killer.
Anderson smiled throughout the interview while denying rumors that he killed Shakur. Anderson was killed during a shootout at a car wash in Compton, California on May 29, 1998.
Watch the interview below.