Duane Davis found guilty of the murder of Tupac Shakur
It took less than three hours for a jury to find Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis guilty of the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.
After being convicted in the murder of Tupac Shakur, Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis not only maintains his innocence but also says he expects to be released from jail.
On Aug. 31, a jury found Davis, 63, guilty of one count of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in the death of the hip-hop legend after less than three hours of deliberations. He faces life in prison and is the only person charged in Shakur’s death.
In an interview conducted with The Hollywood Reporter, published Sept. 4, Davis said that his legal team has already filed an appeal and said he is confident about his freedom.
“I ain’t worried. I’m getting out on an appeal,” he told the outlet from the Clark County Detention Center in Nevada. “We already filed it before the trial even started. They violated my civil rights!”
The Compton, California, native recounted that his former attorney, Edi Faal, told him, “You’re going to be a rich man after it’s over. … He told me that you might have to go to jail for two or three years because of it, but … this is just local court.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Davis’ attorney Michael Sanft for comment.
Keffe D says witnesses lied about him on trial
Davis accused officers and prosecutors of lying about him throughout the trial and said his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” was used against him even though he didn’t write it. “Man, they lied about me so much. I don’t even know where to begin,” he said.
“I never wrote that book. The author told me to tell them 10 stories about what happened in your life and get them some pictures,” Davis added. “I never read that book or went over that book or nothing. They didn’t even spell my name right on the cover.”
According to the book, Davis admits he provided the weapon used to shoot Shakur.
He said he is no killer, adding, “I’m a good man, man. I’m a good person.”
“I’m innocent, man. They got an innocent man sitting in jail,” he continued. “I’ve got two grandsons that are going to the pros in football. They All-Americans – one of them is in high school. He has 25 scholarship offers, and the other one is in college. And when they get their millions, they’re coming to get me out of here.”
Keffe D explains why he didn’t take the witness stand
Davis explained why he didn’t testify in his defense, saying that his legal team believed it would hurt his chance of an appeal.
During the two-week trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Davis provided the gun used in Shakur’s killing and instructed members of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, which he was allegedly the leader of, to murder the “California Love” rapper.
Shakur was shot on the night of Sept. 7, 1996, and died from his injuries six days later at age 25.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal called the crime an act of “gang retaliation and revenge” in the prosecution’s opening statement. Prosecutors declined to pursue potential gang enhancement, which would add an additional prison sentence, with the murder charge due to “witness logistics.”
Davis’ defense team argued that Davis lied about his involvement in the shooting and said the evidence against him, which included the book and police interviews from 2008 to 2009, was “incomplete.”
His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 13.
Contributing: Liza Esquibias, USA TODAY