LAS VEGAS (TCN) — A 63-year-old man has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for his role in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur.
On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was killed following an evening out watching a boxing match with other members of the Mob Piru gang, including Death Row label co-owner Suge Knight. Members of a rival gang, the South Side Compton Crips, were also present at the match at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand Arena, including Duane “Keffe D” Davis and his nephew, Baby Lane Anderson.
After the boxing match ended, Shakur and other members of his entourage reportedly assaulted Anderson at an elevator bank. Shakur was shot later that night at a red light when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside his car; he died in the hospital several days later. Knight was also injured in the shooting.
According to The Associated Press, prosecutors believe Davis “went hunting” for Shakur after the attack on Anderson; he was one of four men present in the Cadillac when it pulled up alongside Shakur and shots were fired.
KSTU reported that of the four men inside the car, only Davis is still alive. Under Nevada law, anyone who helps someone in the commission of a murder can also be found guilty of murder. The AP reports that Davis acted as the “shot caller” the night of Shakur’s death; no one else has been charged in connection with Shakur’s death.
On Aug. 31, Davis was convicted of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon.
The Associated Press reports Davis was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Oct. 13. Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo said that Davis was “guaranteed to die” while incarcerated.
Prosecutor Binu Palal said Shakur’s family has had to listen for years about Davis “bragging about killing someone they loved.” He said that to many people, Shakur represented an idea, but to them, he was “a brother, a son, a cousin, a loved person ripped from them 30 years ago. … They loved that man. And the arrogance that Mr. Davis had in expressing his joy in killing that man ultimately was his undoing,” per the AP.
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