September 29, 2023 - Tupac Shakur murder suspect arrested in Las Vegas | CNN

September 29, 2023 - Tupac Shakur murder suspect arrested in Las Vegas

Tupac Shakur arrest murder 1996 case Las Vegas affil vpx_00014915.png
Detective explains the break that led to arrest in Tupac's murder case
6:10 • Source: KTNV
Tupac Shakur arrest murder 1996 case Las Vegas affil vpx_00014915.png
6:10 KTNV

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A look back at CNN's coverage surrounding Tupac's death

It’s been 27 years since the death of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot multiple times in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, while leaving a boxing match at the MGM Grand hotel on the Las Vegas Strip and died six days later. CNN covered the historic incident along with fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G’ s death six months later in 1997.

Here’s a look back at CNN coverage surrounding Shakur’s death:

  • The incident: A day after his death, on September 14, 1996, CNN reported that Shakur was the target of a Las, Vegas shooting. CNN’S Jim Hill at the time said details around the incident were “sketchy,” as Shakur’s entourage were not forthcoming as witnesses. It was reported that Shakur’s death occurred after his right lung was removed before investigators could talk with him, thus hindering the investigation. At the time, police investigated “possible gang links” in relation to the murder and were “looking into the business dealings of the rap music world” that included the infamous rivalry between East and West Coast rappers.
  • The response: In the days following Shakur’s death, CNN also covered the cultural response to the fatal shooting in a September 24, 1996, story. CNN’s Mark Scheerer said Shakur’s murder “resulted in a rash of soul searching and teeth gnashing over violence in rap culture.” He reported that the Nation of Islam organized a “Hip-Hop Day of Atonement” at the time and that there was a protest held outside a radio station in an attempt to pressure the station to stop playing “hard-core rap” music before midnight airtime.
  • Analysis: Notorious B.I.G died March 9, 1997. A day later, CNN released an article analyzing the conflict between East and West Coast rappers at the time. CNN’s Michael Okwu detailed previous clashes and similarities between Shakur and the New York native rapper before both of their deaths. The article also addressed the climate of the time and how little was known about hip-hop culture, with it calling Notorious B.I.G “a one-time thug to some, an icon to others” as well as the focus on their criminal records as their similarities.
  • Developments: And today, CNN covered the major development of an arrest made in Shakur’s death investigation. Las Vegas police confirmed Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” was arrested Friday for the murder. Davis is the only living suspect related to the investigation of rapper Tupac Shakur’s murder, according to authorities. Officials said Davis will appear in court in the next days for a hearing to determine his custody status and set a jury trial date.

Davis believed to be "the shot caller" who organized a plan to kill Tupac Shakur, police say

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson speaks during a press conference on Friday in Las Vegas.

Police believe that Duane Keith Davis, the man arrested in connection to the murder of Tupac Shakur, orchestrated a plan to commit the crime with several other people.

A grand jury indicted Davis on charges of murder with the use of a deadly weapon in connection to the 1996 killing.

“I think the best way to characterize that is Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out to commit this crime,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson said.

Even if Davis was not the one that shot Shakur, under Nevada law he can still be charged with murder, Las Vegas, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said. This is because of the state’s aiding and abetting statute, he said.

He said that is “one of the theories in this case as well.”

Johansson said police believe Davis obtained the gun that was used from a “close associate,” but declined to give any more details, saying they would come out during the trial.

Davis is set to appear in court in the next few days when a date for that jury trial will be set, police said.

Duane Davis' own words reignited the investigation that led to his arrest, police lieutenant says

Las Vegas Metro Police Department investigators say Duane Davis’ own words reignited the investigation into Tupac Shakur’s death, leading to today’s arrest. 

Davis admitted his role in the murder to police in 2009, but because it came as part of a proffer agreement, which precluded any of the statements being used against him, he was not charged according to a former police detective who investigated the case. 

Kading was a former Los Angeles police detective who spent years probing the murder of Shakur and wrote about it in a memoir.

“He had a proffer agreement, so we couldn’t utilize that information that he was providing against him.” Kading said.

A proffer is an agreement between a prosecutor and a suspect in which the individual agrees to provide the government with potentially useful information regarding an investigation, however, the statements made generally cannot be used as evidence against the person.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Jason Johansson said Friday at a news conference that Davis had spoken to “numerous different media outlets,” which helped with the investigation. Davis also participated in a 2018 Netflix documentary on the Shakur homicide and released his own memoir.

Tupac Shakur's family has been waiting 27 years for justice, sheriff says

The family of rapper Tupac Shakur has waited 27 years for justice, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.

Authorities announced earlier that Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” was arrested Friday for Shakur’s 1996 murder. Davis was indicted on charges of murder with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the murder.

Duane Davis is the only living suspect in Tupac Shakur's death investigation

Duane Keith Davis

Duane Davis is the only living suspect related to the investigation of rapper Tupac Shakur’s murder, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Jason Johansson said at a Friday news conference.

“All other three suspects are deceased,” he said.

Davis was indicted Friday on charges of murder with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the 1996 killing, authorities said.

Police detail Duane Davis' alleged role in the events leading up to Tupac Shakur's killing

The intersection in Las Vegas where Tupac Shakur was shot in September 1996.

Authorities laid out a timeline of events leading up to the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur when they held a news conference Friday announcing an arrest in the case.

On the night of September 7, 1996, Shakur and his entourage, including members of the Mob Piru gang, attended a boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Metropolitan Police Lt. Jason Johansson said. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a leader of the South Side Compton Crips gang, was also in attendance, according to Johansson.

Upon leaving the event, a fight broke out between the two groups.

Tupac and another individual then left the event venue to attend a post-fight party at a local night club, according to Johansson.

It was at this point that Davis “began to devise a plan,” Johansson said.

Davis got a gun and then got into a white Cadillac with three other people, according to the investigation. Davis eventually gave the gun to the passengers sitting in the back of the car. When the group located Shakur, they shot at the car he was riding in, Johansson said.

The white Cadillac drove off, and Shakur was taken to a local hospital, where he died six days later.

Grand jury indicted Duane Keith Davis on charges of murder with use of a deadly weapon in Tupac Shakur case

A grand jury has indicted Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis on charges of murder with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur, Las Vegas authorities announced.

Officials said Davis will appear in court in the next days for a hearing to determine his custody status and set a jury trial date.

New information came to light in 2018 that gave police enough evidence to make arrest, official says

While many of the facts of the case were known by police investigators “in the first few months” after the murder of Tupac Shakur, new information came to light in recent years that allowed police to finally make an arrest, a police official said Friday.

Police arrested Duane Keith Davis in Las Vegas on Friday morning, according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Specifically, Johansson said Davis made “admissions to his involvement in this homicide investigation” to media outlets. He did not give any more details.

Some background: In July, police searched a home connected to Davis. They found a copy of a book Davis wrote about the rapper’s killing, which detailed street gang life and the murder of Shakur.

Davis was a self-proclaimed witness to the killing.

Sheriff confirms the arrest of Duane Keith Davis in relation to Tupac Shakur's murder

Sheriff Kevin McMahill, with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, speaks during a press conference on Friday in Las Vegas.

Police arrested Duane Keith Davis, 60, in connection to the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, officials announced in a news conference Friday.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill, with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said the arrest happened Friday morning.

While the investigation into Shakur’s death started 27 years ago, “it is far from over,” McMahill said.

The sheriff said his police department “methodically built this case to move forward with an arrest,” while also working to build a “successful prosecution,” he said.

Earlier Friday, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation had told CNN that Davis was arrested in connection with Shakur’s killing.

NOW: Police are holding a news conference about an arrest in the case of Tupac Shakur's murder

Las Vegas law enforcement officials are sharing an update on the arrest made in connection with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Police arrested Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D” on Friday morning, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

Authorities with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department are now providing details about the case at their headquarters in downtown Las Vegas.

Tupac Shakur's stepbrother calls arrest in connection with rapper's murder "bittersweet"

The news of an arrest made in Las Vegas in connection with the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur is “bittersweet,” the rapper’s stepbrother Mopreme Shakur said.

“We have been through decades of pain. They have known about this guy, who been running his mouth, for years,” Mopreme Shakur said.

Police arrested Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D” on Friday morning, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. He is a self-proclaimed witness to Tupac Shakur’s 1996 fatal shooting, CNN has reported.

Mopreme Shakur said he doesn’t know Davis personally, but “he’s been telling them the same story the whole time for 27 years.”

He said still he misses his brother and that his spirit is still alive.

“We’re in a constant state of grief and remorse and pain because we have to relive it and relive what happened and think about, you know, is just as difficult,” he said.

What we know about the man arrested in connection with the death of Tupac Shakur

The man arrested in connection with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur was identified as Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation, told CNN.

Davis wrote a book about the rapper’s killing detailing street gang life and the murder of Shakur.

Police found a copy of the memoir while searching a house in July that belonged to Paula Clemons who is married to Davis.

In the book, Davis describes himself as one of only two living witnesses to Shakur’s shooting, the other being Marion “Suge” Knight, former CEO of Death Row Records, who is now serving time in prison for manslaughter in an unrelated case. Knight was driving the car in which Shakur was a passenger when the rapper was shot.

Davis is believed to be the uncle of Orlando Anderson, who has long been suspected of being involved in Tupac’s murder, a charge he denied to CNN before his death in a gang-related shooting in 1998.

In a 1998 interview with BET, Davis said he was in the front seat of the other car — the one that came up alongside Shakur’s automobile — when shots rang out from the backseat.

“Going to keep it for the code of the streets,” Davis said when asked between the four men in the car, who was responsible for pulling the trigger. “It just came from the backseat, bro.”

Three hours before the shooting, MGM casino surveillance video shows Shakur, Suge Knight and their entourage attacking Anderson, an L.A.-area gang member. 

Arrest made in connection with 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur is seen backstage after a performance in Chicago in March 1994.

Police have made an arrest in Las Vegas in connection with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, a law enforcement source told CNN.

The source, with knowledge of the investigation, confirms the man arrested Friday morning is Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” whose Henderson home was searched in July as part of Las Vegas Metro Police Department’s ongoing investigation into the shooting. 

Las Vegas police officials are expected to hold a press conference later Friday, the source said. 

Police took several items in July from a home connected to the man arrested in Tupac Shakur's murder

A home searched by Las Vegas police in connection with the investigation into Tupac Shakur’s killing is seen on July 20 in Henderson, Nevada.

Police took various electronics and other items from a house they searched in July in connection with the investigation into Tupac Shakur’s killing.

The search warrant, obtained by CNN, names Duane Keith Davis and shows police were looking for “items that tend to show evidence of motive and/or the identity of the perpetrator such as photographs or undeveloped film, insurance policies and letters, address and telephone records, diaries, and other documents…”

The property records show that the target of the search, a home on Maple Shade Street in Henderson, Nevada, belongs to Paula Clemons who is married to Davis, also known as “Keffe D.”

Daivs is a self-proclaimed witness to Shakur’s 1996 fatal shooting.

A law enforcement source told CNN Friday that Keffe D was arrested in Las Vegas in connection to Shakur’s killing.

Police took several tablets, an iPhone and five computers from the home when they executed the warrant on Monday. Also taken were USB and hard drives, photographs and “purported marijuana,” along with a copy of “Vibe” magazine about Tupac, and a copy of the book “Compton Street Legends” by Keffe D with Yusuf Jah.

The affidavit requesting the warrant shows police were looking for, among other items, “notes, writings, ledgers, and other handwritten or typed documents concerning television shows, documentaries, YouTube episodes, book manuscripts, and movies concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur.”

Items seized from the Las Vegas home also included a copy of the memoir Davis authored detailing street gang life and the murder of Shakur.

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