Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Sentenced to 40 Years to Life for Tupac Shakur’s 1996 Murder

Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, a former gang leader, has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for arranging the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed hip-hop star Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas. Davis, 63, was found guilty of first-degree murder in August and received the punishment during a hearing in a Las Vegas courtroom on Tuesday, October 13. The judge told Davis as she announced the sentence, “You don’t get to take a man from his family.” Acknowledging the long delay in securing justice in the death of the hip-hop icon, she added, “You don’t get to take his very life, his whole future, from him …especially when that man is Tupac Shakur.” Prosecutors sought the maximum sentence for the man described as the mastermind. “He’s the only one who’s trying to profit off a k!lling that he committed, and for that he doesn’t deserve the minimum sentence,” prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told the court. “He deserves the maximum possible sentence because he’s earned it through his actions, his behavior, and who he is as he stands here today.” Davis’s attorney, Michael Sanft, asked for a 40-year prison term but said they will appeal the conviction. Before Judge Carli Kierny imposed the sentence, Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa, and brother, Maurice, gave statements. “The loss of Tupac for a long time crippled my entire family emotionally, mentally,” Sekyiwa said. “I’ve been hospitalized multiple times for depression, suicidal ideation, and trauma.” “I miss my brother. I do. I miss his skin. I miss his scars on his head. He had a strawberry on his chest. I miss the way he ate. Miss his recipe for chicken. Miss his laugh,” she added.