Duane Davis found guilty in murder of Tupac Shakur | Hanomansing Tonight

A jury has found Duane "Keffe D" Davis guilty of orchestrating the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, marking the first conviction in a case that has gripped hip-hop fans for decades.

The 63-year-old Davis was convicted Monday of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and could be sentenced to life in prison. The jury deliberated for three hours after a weeks-long trial in Las Vegas.

In a related development, after the verdict was read, Shakur's sister, Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, cried and reached back to a person behind her. Also in the courtroom was Davis's son, who covered his face with one hand.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors in closing arguments that Davis acquired a gun and "went hunting" for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight after they beat up Davis's nephew earlier that night.

Palal acknowledged that Davis's accounts of the killing evolved over the years but argued those differences reflected Davis's changing motivations and efforts to protect himself. One critical detail, he noted, remained consistent: Davis repeatedly placed himself inside a white Cadillac from which the shots were fired.

Furthermore, "The core facts remain. The material facts remain," Palal mentioned.

Davis's defence attorney, Michael Sanft, challenged jurors to identify evidence outside Davis's own statements that placed him in Las Vegas or inside the Cadillac on the night Shakur was shot. He pointed to the absence of surveillance footage, phone records and other evidence putting Davis there.

"They have nothing in this case that says that man was here in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996," Sanft noted, pointing toward Davis.

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The decades-old case has drawn the attention of hip-hop fans and crime experts alike.

Shakur, who was considered one of the most influential rappers of all time, was in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996, and stopped at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up beside him, and shots were fired. He died six days later from his wounds. Knight was also wounded but survived.

It is worth noting that for years, nobody had been charged in the rapper's death until Davis began making public statements, saying he was in the Cadillac and gave the gun to others in the backseat. Davis described the shooting as an act of retaliation after Knight and Shakur's entourage beat up Davis's nephew hours before the shooting.

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Under Nevada law, someone who helps another person commit murder can be convicted of the crime. Davis is the only person still alive among the four men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac. The man prosecutors say originally gave the gun to Davis is also dead.

Palal told jurors that if they believe Davis's statements, they do not have to be independently corroborated with additional evidence.

Notably, "Who fired is not the question," Palal expressed. Prosecutors didn't argue that Davis pulled the trigger, but instead that he was criminally responsible because he provided the gun and ordered the attack.

Palal also argued the shooting was premeditated, pointing to testimony and Davis's accounts that the group searched for Shakur before spotting him on the road and making a U-turn.

"It's a plan, not an impulse," Palal remarked.

Significantly, palal held up Davis's 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, and played an interview in which Davis encouraged people to buy it to get the "real truth." Although the book contains a disclaimer saying some facts were changed, Palal argued that names, hotels and other details changed while the central account did not.

Palal also rejected the defence's contention that Davis fabricated his accounts to make money. "It is an entirely different proposition to be profiting from a murder," Palal stated. "And that is what Mr. Davis is doing."

Sanft also turned to his client's memoir during his closing argument. While reading an excerpt, he remarked the N-word aloud, prompting people watching in an overflow courtroom to recoil and shake their heads.

Meanwhile, in multiple interviews, Davis stated he handed the gun to the back seat, but in others as well as in his book, Davis wouldn't say who pulled the trigger.

In a rebuttal argument, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo pointed to a scrapbook Davis kept containing articles about Shakur.

"This guy's scrapbooking his murder, for God's sake," DiGiacomo told jurors.