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A Las Vegas jury found Duane "Keffe D" Davis guilty of first-degree murder on Monday for his role in the 1996 drive-by shooting of rap icon Tupac Shakur.
The 63-year-old faces a possible life sentence following a trial that spanned several weeks. The jury took under three hours to deliberate and return the verdict, per The Associated Press.
The prosecution built its entire case around a single critical item: Davis's own 2019 self-published memoir, Compton Street Legend. Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo noted that without the 228-page book, Davis probably would never have been prosecuted at all.
Although Davis did not fire the fatal shots himself, prosecutors proved he orchestrated the attack. Under Nevada law, anyone who aids or abets a murder can be convicted as a principal actor. The memoir functioned as an explicit confession that finally resolved one of music history's longest-standing cold cases.
Published in January 2019, Compton Street Legend contained direct accounts of the night Shakur was shot. In the book, Davis placed himself inside the white Cadillac alongside three other men and admitted to passing the gun into the backseat.
Prosecutors argued that Davis ordered the retaliatory hit following a fight at the MGM Grand earlier that night, where Shakur and his entourage assaulted Davis's nephew, Orlando Anderson.
The memoir carried immense weight during trial proceedings because Davis is the only person from that vehicle who remains alive. His nephew Anderson died in an unrelated shooting in 1998, and the other two occupants passed away in subsequent years.
Former Clark County district attorney David Roger noted before trial that the book would be central to the state's arguments because no other living witnesses from the vehicle remained to give testimony.
Defence attorney Michael Sanft urged the jury to disregard the memoir, characterizing it as an exaggerated work of fiction created purely for financial profit and street notoriety.
Sanft questioned how much of the book Davis personally wrote due to a co-author, pointing out that Davis told a Las Vegas television reporter from jail that he did not write the book. Sanft also highlighted that no physical evidence placed Davis in Las Vegas on the night of the crime.
Judge Carli Kierny denied a defence motion to exclude the memoir, ruling it admissible. During closing arguments, prosecutor Binu Palal pointed out that Davis spent years telling police, television interviewers, YouTube channels, and readers that he was responsible for Shakur's death.
Palal told the jury that "the core facts remain," and asked them to hold Davis to his own words. Following the verdict, Davis stated, "And I would like to appeal this matter."
Judge Kierny informed him that any appeal would take place after his formal sentencing on October 13.
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