Did forensic scientists actually just discover who killed Tupac?
Did we just witness the turning point in one of rap’s most mysterious deaths?
It’s a case that’s gripped the music world for nearly three decades: the tragic and unsolved killing of rap luminary Tupac Shakur. But now, there might be a sliver of closure on the horizon.
Nevada’s judicial system made waves recently by indicting Duane “Keffe D” Davis in connection with Shakur’s death. This breakthrough follows an arduous 27-year-long journey of pursuit by Las Vegas detectives, who’ve pledged that this probe is “far from over.” So who killed Tupac? Let’s dive into the details and see if he was killed by who we thought all along? 
Shadows of the Past
Before diving into the recent indictment, it’s essential to revisit the tumultuous events that led up to that fateful day in 1996.
Italics: two years prior, a robbery gone wrong in a swanky New York hotel left Shakur wounded and minus forty thousand dollars. This incident not only escalated tensions in the rapper’s life but also stoked the flames of an already heated feud with fellow hip-hop heavyweights, The Notorious B.I.G. and Sean “Diddy” Combs. The rivalry divided fans and added a shadow of tension over the music community.
September 7, 1996: Las Vegas. After an exhilarating Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand, Shakur and his entourage, including Death Row Records head honcho Marion “Suge” Knight, found themselves embroiled in a brawl at the hotel. Central to this dispute were Duane “Keffe D” Davis and Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, both affiliated with rival gangs to Knight’s crew.
Fast forward a few hours, and a white Cadillac rolls up next to Shakur’s BMW at a red light on the Vegas Strip. Bullets fly, and the rap icon is hit multiple times, leading to his tragic death six days later. The feud-fueled confrontations didn’t end there, though. In subsequent years, other related tragedies, including the death of Shakur’s associate Yaki Kadafi and rival rapper The Notorious B.I.G., shocked the hip-hop world.
Reigniting the Investigation
The 2018 Netflix series Unsolved: The Tupac and Biggie Murders breathed new life into the cold case.
Authorities saw a fresh surge of momentum in their investigation following the show’s release, underscoring the ongoing public fascination and demand for answers. But what really sent shockwaves was Davis’s 2018 admission on BET, where he confessed to being in the vehicle from which the fatal shots were fired at Shakur.
A subsequent tell-all memoir by Davis in 2019 dropped even more bombshells about the night Shakur was killed.
Unraveling the Web
July 2023 saw law enforcement intensify their focus on Davis. A raid at his wife’s residence yielded tantalizing clues, ranging from a Vibe magazine with Shakur on its cover to copies of Davis’s memoir, Compton Street Legend. But the most seismic shift came at the end of September 2023 when authorities arrested Davis, with the indictment being announced soon after.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson summed up the sentiments of many when he said, “Tupac Shakur is a music legend… Today we are taking that first step” towards justice.
As the world watches and waits for the next chapter in this saga, one question lingers: Are we finally on the cusp of solving the Tupac Shakur mystery?
