A Las Vegas jury on Monday found former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of orchestrating the killing of hip hop artist Tupac Shakur, following nine days of testimony. The verdict came in a case that had remained unsolved for nearly three decades.

Jurors took less than three hours to reach a guilty verdict. Davis, 63, was convicted of murder with the use of a deadly weapon and could face life in prison.

Shakur was wounded in a drive-by shooting on September 7, 1996, and died in a hospital six days later at the age of 25. He was an award-winning rap artist, activist, and actor who sold over 75 million records worldwide, many posthumously.

Davis, a one-time leader of the South Side Compton Crips gang, is the only person ever charged in Shakur’s murder. He is the only one still alive among the four men prosecutors say were in the Cadillac from which shots were fired. The man who allegedly originally gave the gun to Davis is also dead.

In closing arguments, Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that Davis acquired a gun and “went hunting” for Shakur and Knight after they beat up Davis’ nephew earlier that night. Palal said that Davis’ accounts of the killing evolved over the years but maintained that those differences showed Davis’ changing motivations and efforts to protect himself.

Palal argued that a key detail remained consistent throughout: Davis repeatedly placed himself inside the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired. The trial continues.

Source: www.dw.com