Twenty-seven years after the fatal shooting of Tupac Shakur near the Las Vegas Strip on September 7th, 1996, Duane Keith Davis, who is now 60 years old, has been apprehended as the primary murder suspect.
Born in Compton, California, Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis is recognized in the entertainment world as “Keffe D” and has claimed affiliation with the South Side Compton Crips (SSCC) gang.
Duane gained notoriety as one of the few surviving witnesses to Shakur’s shooting, making appearances on television networks such as A&E, USA Network, and Fox.
At the time of Shakur’s shooting, Duane was a prominent figure within the South Side Compton Crips gang and had harbored plans for retaliation against Shakur.
In 2019, he published a revealing memoir titled “Compton Street Legend,” in which he detailed his ascent within the notorious South California gang, reaching the status of a “shot caller” while overseeing a multimillion-dollar drug enterprise across the nation.
Duane’s upbringing was in a middle-class African American family, one of twelve siblings.
He purchased a home in Compton and two cars for his parents, a homemaker from Texas, and a Marine from Virginia, who were hopeful immigrants when they moved to their block in 1965, only to witness their neighborhood slowly shift from predominantly White to predominantly Black due to White families leaving.
Tragedy struck when Duane’s mother succumbed to colon cancer in 1980 when he was just 15 years old.
In 2014, he battled the same cancer, which is now in remission, and also endured the loss of two brothers—one to cancer and the other to a street shooting in Compton.
According to Duane’s account of the night of Shakur’s shooting, Shakur and his entourage had come to the MGM Grand Garden Arena to watch the Mike Tyson fight.
Shakur and Suge Knight encountered Duane’s nephew, Orlando Anderson, in the hotel. Surveillance footage captured Shakur and Knight assaulting Anderson, resulting in hotel staff intervening.
This altercation came to Duane’s attention, leading to his plan for revenge, ultimately resulting in Shakur’s tragic death.
Duane procured a firearm from a “close associate” and assembled a group consisting of Orlando Anderson, Terrance Brown, and Deandre Smith in the infamous white Cadillac.
On July 17th, Las Vegas Police executed a search of Duane’s residence in Henderson, Nevada, during which they seized multiple computers, .40-caliber bullets, tubs containing photographs, a cell phone, a hard drive, a magazine featuring Shakur, and a copy of “Compton Street Legend.
Currently, Duane faces charges of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and an intent to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang, as stated by Clark County District Attorney Steven B.
Wolfson during a press conference on Friday.
Duane is expected to appear in court in the coming days, having been indicted by a grand jury.
