By Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
A jury has found Duane "Keffe D" Davis guilty of murdering Tupac Shakur, closing the book on one of hip-hop's most enduring mysteries nearly 30 years after the rapper was shot dead in Las Vegas.
Davis, 63, a self-described former gang leader, was convicted of orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed Shakur, according to Al Jazeera and the BBC. The case had gone unsolved for decades before prosecutors built their charges in part on Davis's own public statements — including a memoir and interviews in which he discussed his knowledge of the killing.
Shakur, one of the best-selling music artists in history, was 25 when he was shot while riding in a car on the Las Vegas Strip following a Mike Tyson fight. His death, followed six months later by the murder of rival rapper Notorious B.I.G., became one of the defining unsolved cases in American music history.
The verdict, delivered this week, marks a rare resolution in a case that has fueled documentaries, books and internet speculation for a generation. Al Jazeera and the BBC both reported the conviction; sentencing details were not included in the available reporting.
For a story this steeped in myth, the fact matters most: a jury, hearing evidence in a court of law, has now put a name to the crime. That's not tabloid conjecture — it's a verdict.
If I can't source it, you won't read it here.
— Compiled from reporting by Al Jazeera and BBC Entertainment & Arts.
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