Duane “Keffe D” Davis was sentenced Oct. 13 to 40 years to life in prison for the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur. Clark County District Judge Carli Kierny imposed the sentence in Las Vegas, 43 days after a jury found Davis guilty.
What Happened at the Sentencing
Kierny sentenced Davis on Tuesday, according to FOX5 Las Vegas, which covered the hearing. Marc DiGiacomo, a chief deputy district attorney, asked for the maximum sentence and cited the pain to Shakur’s family, the profit Davis made from the incident and his prior felonies. Davis’s lawyer, Michael Sanft, asked for the minimum, a range FOX5 gave as 40 to 100 years.
Davis spoke at the hearing and asked for his personal property and photographs. He had asked the court for 1,111 days of credit for time served. The judge denied the request because that time was applied to another case, FOX5 reported.
Shakur’s siblings, Sekyiwa Shakur and Mopreme Shakur, gave victim impact statements and asked for the maximum. FOX5 did not print their words. It paraphrased Kierny as saying Davis could not walk away after taking a life, especially Shakur’s.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said after the hearing, “Today, justice has been served for Tupac Shakur and his loved ones.” FOX5 reported that Davis and his defense team are expected to appeal.
The Charge and the Sentence
Davis, 63, was convicted of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, according to News 3 in Las Vegas. Prosecutors dropped a gang enhancement after the verdict, and Wolfson said the charge carries a minimum of 40 years under the law that applied. The sentence of 40 years to life matches that minimum at its low end.
The sentence leaves the date of any release uncertain. Davis is 63. Forty years added to his age gives 103, a calculation that ignores any credit for time served, and the reports on the hearing do not say how much credit the court allowed or how parole eligibility will be counted.
The case file reached the district attorney’s office in 2009, News 3 reported, which is 14 years before Davis was charged in 2023. Davis has been in custody since his arrest in September 2023, FOX5 reported, which is about three years at the time of sentencing.
Shakur was shot Sept. 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip and died six days later, according to News 3. From the shooting to the sentencing is 30 years and 36 days, a calculation from the two dates.
How the Trial Went
A jury found Davis guilty on Aug. 31 after less than three hours of deliberation, FOX5 reported. Accounts of the deliberation differ slightly. KTNV reported the jury deliberated for less than two hours, while News 3 and FOX5 said less than three. KNPR, Nevada’s public radio network, said three hours.
KTNV reported that the weeks-long trial included nine straight days of witness testimony. The prosecution called 24 witnesses and the defense called three. The jury had 16 members, including alternates. Prosecutors called eight times as many witnesses as the defense, a calculation from KTNV’s counts.
The prosecutors said they treated the case like any other despite its profile, according to KTNV. DiGiacomo said prosecutors worried the jury might hear something outside the courtroom, and that he and a fellow chief deputy district attorney acted as if the cameras were not there.
Wolfson said at a Sept. 1 press conference that the case rested largely on Davis’s own words, including interviews, a book and podcasts, according to FOX5’s coverage. FOX5 identified the book as “Compton Street Legend.” Wolfson said the defense argued that Davis lied and made up the confessions to gain fame, and he described that approach as highly unusual.
Who Else is Involved
Davis is the only person charged. News 3 reported that Suge Knight, who was driving the BMW Shakur rode in, is the only surviving person who was in the car. Knight is serving a 28-year California sentence for voluntary manslaughter from an unrelated 2015 hit-and-run, and DiGiacomo said Knight did not testify because he has a Fifth Amendment privilege.
Wolfson said prosecutors do not currently have enough evidence to charge anyone else, and he said they could “always consider filing additional charges” if new evidence emerges. News 3 reported that the case reached the district attorney’s office in 2009 and that Davis was charged in 2023.
Tupac Shakur’s siblings responded to the verdict in a statement that Wolfson read at the press conference. They said the verdict was decades in the making and “not the end of the story,” News 3 reported. The statement said the siblings were elated and relieved.
What the Defense Has Said
Defense statements are thinner in the record than the prosecution’s. Sanft argued for the minimum at the sentencing, and FOX5 reported that Davis and his team are expected to appeal. KTNV contacted Sanft’s office after the verdict and its report includes no response. FOX5’s coverage of the hearing gives no statement from the defense on the sentence.
What Comes Next
Wolfson said on Sept. 1, “We expect an appeal, and we will defend that appeal.” The reports do not say what grounds Davis will raise or when he will file.
