Duane Davis sentenced for orchestrating Tupac Shakur's killing

A former leader of a Los Angeles street gang has been sentenced to at least 40 years in prison for orchestrating the 1996 killing of American rapper Tupac Shakur, more than 30 years after the hip-hop star was fatally shot, DPA reported.

Judge Carli Kierny delivered the sentence in Las Vegas, Nevada, about six weeks after Duane Davis, 63, was found guilty.

Davis appeared in court in handcuffs and announced through his lawyer that he would appeal the verdict, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

Shakur was one of the most successful and influential rappers of the 1990s, selling millions of albums worldwide. The performer behind hits such as “California Love” and “Changes” was shot while sitting in a car in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, and died in hospital six days later at the age of 25.

Prosecutors did not accuse Davis of being the person who pulled the trigger. Instead, they argued that the former leader of the South Side Compton Crips gang orchestrated the attack as part of a dispute between rival gangs and supplied the murder weapon. Under Nevada law, people who contribute to a murder can also be convicted of the crime.

Davis was arrested in Las Vegas in 2023 and charged with murder, among other offences. He pleaded not guilty.

The case remained unsolved for years because of insufficient evidence. According to police, statements made by Davis himself helped investigators make progress.

Davis repeatedly said in interviews and in his autobiography that he had been inside the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired. He also said he was the only surviving occupant of the car and told investigators in 2008 that his nephew had fired the fatal shots.

Defence attorney Michael Sanft attempted to discredit those statements, portraying Davis as a liar who had invented the stories to make money. No physical evidence placing Davis at the crime scene was presented during the trial.

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