LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Law enforcement, documentary filmmakers, and Tupac Shakur's family are all weighing in on someone finally being arrested for the rapper's murder. Shakur was killed in 1996.
On Friday, a new murder indictment was handed down by a Nevada grand jury and police arrested 60-year-old Duane "Keefe D" Davis outside of his home in Henderson. He's facing an open murder charge and Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese has denied bail.
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Davis is not a new suspect in the case. The Los Angeles Police Department said they've known about his involvement, which Davis confessed to in an interview with law enforcement in 2008. However, he had reached a proffer agreement. That agreement means a person agrees to provide prosecutors with useful information and in exchange, the information they provide can't be used against them in future criminal proceedings. However, retired LAPD detective Greg Kading said Davis violated that agreement.
"He began to go out and publicly boast about his role in the murder and that led to law enforcement in Las Vegas to take another look at his claims and ultimately, he's just talked himself into jail," Kading said. "We knew about his involvement but now, it's come to fruition because of all of the public statements he's made."
That includes appearing in multiple documentaries and releasing his own book about the events that night.
"I think he wanted the credit and I think he wanted to word it carefully enough for him to avoid being arrested," said Mike Dorsey, the director of "Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders". "Murder Rap came out in 2015. Then Unsolved, which is on Netflix, comes out. Other people are telling his story. I think he decided I wanted to tell my story. Everybody else is telling it. Then, when nothing happened after the BET series in 2018, I think maybe he felt a false sense of security like oh, I guess they don't care or I guess I was careful enough with the way I worded it that they won't come after me so he started doing more and more interviews."
Chris Carroll is a retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sergeant. He was the last person to speak with Shakur before he died. He said Davis' statements have been frustrating law enforcement for years.
"What took so long is really, since this thing started, we knew who the shooter was but the guy who was the trigger man was murdered a year after the Tupac shooting so there was never anyone to arrest. Over the course of the years, police knew what had happened and we just didn't have that final piece of the puzzle," Carroll said. "We now have a guy who over the last five years has been openly going on all kinds of media, wrote a book explaining and detailing his role in the murder. It comes to a point where how long are we all supposed to sit by and listen to this guy brag about committing a murder and not being charged with anything?"
Las Vegas police raided a home in Henderson earlier this year that is tied to Davis. According to a search warrant, investigators collected multiple computers, a cellphone, a hard drive, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-caliber bullets, two tubs containing photographs, and a copy of Davis’ memoir. That led to a grand jury being formed.
For Shakur's family, there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
"I was taken aback when the Las Vegas Police Department started reaching out to the family. The timing is curious. I do appreciate that it's some form of accountability for the family but it's not over," Shakur's stepbrother Mopreme said. "I'm not a cop. I'm not a lawyer but I do watch Law & Order. If you've got one person and you know that they're with another person at the same time as an event happened, wouldn't you follow up there? He obviously thinks he's innocent."
He added there's not a day that goes by that he doesn't think about his brother.
"I miss my brother. I miss simply making music together and working together like we used to do," Shakur said. "I was one of the earliest to hear those legendary hits and I miss that. We're in a constant state of grief and remorse and pain because we have to relive it and relive what happened. It's difficult and bittersweet."
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Shakur's sister Sekyiwa also released a statement saying this is "a pivotal moment" in the case.
"It's important to me that the world, the country, the justice system, and our people acknowledge the gravity of the passing of this man, my brother, my mother's son, my father's son. His life and death matters and should not go unsolved or unrecognized," her statement reads. "Today is a victory but I will reserve judgment until all the facts and legal proceedings are complete. There have been multiple hands involved and there remains so much surrounding the life and death of my brother Tupac and our Shakur family overall. We are seeking real justice, on all fronts."
Several of Shakur's friends have also released statements including Jada Pinkett Smith, who said she hoped they could get answers and have closure, and rapper Flavor Flav who posted on Instagram that it's "poetic justice for my man".
Davis has previously stated he handed the murder weapon to the shooter moments before it happened. According to Nevada law, that makes him culpable for that murder. However, Kading said it will be "interesting" to see how things play out.
"It will be interesting to see how this works out legally when the primary witness against the defendant is the defendant himself," Kading said. "This is going to be very unique in the legal realm. How do you prosecute this? It's going to be intriguing."
Shakur's family said at the end of the day, they just want justice to be served.
"We're bracing for the outcome of this trial or whatever it's going to be," Mopreme Shakur said. "Everybody get your popcorn because I feel like there's other things at play."
