Man Arrested in1996 Murder of Tupac Shakur

Las Vegas Police have made an arrest in the murder of Tupac Shakur some 27 years after the iconic rap star was gunned down while stopped at a red light off the strip.

Tupac Shakr Shot

On the evening of Sept. 7, 1996, Tupac and music producer Marion “Suge” Knight were headed to a post-fight party after spending the evening at the MGM Grand watching the Mike Tyson fight. Before leaving MGM Grand, the men spotted Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson near the elevators.

Knight informed Shakur that Anderson was a gang member who had tried to rob him earlier that year. The men attacked Anderson, punching and kicking him until security broke up the dispute. Little did Tupac and Suge know, this was not the end of things.

After leaving MGM Grand, Shakur and Knight headed toward a post-fight afterparty. While their BMW was stopped at a red light on a street just off the strip, a white Cadillac pulled up beside them. Shots erupted, four of which struck Shakur.

Tupac was transported to a local hospital where he died from his injuries six days later on Sept. 13, 1996.

Davis Charged in Tupac's Murder

Six months after Tupac's murder, his friend-turned-rival, Notorious B.I.G. was shot and killed. This led to conspiracy theories and tons of accusations claiming the murder was in retaliation for Tupac's murder. Despite the evidence, suspicions, and speculations as decades passed, no one faced charges in Tupac's murder.

After Davis released a memoir discussing Tupac's murder, that all changed.

Duane Keith Davis, 60, was taken into custody on September 28, 2023, charged with Tupac’s murder with gang enhancement. He is currently being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Facility.

A leader of the South Side Compton Crips (SSCC,) Davis admitted in interviews after the incident, as well as in his memoir, that he sat in the passenger seat of the white Cadillac when the shots that hit Tupac were fried. He implicated his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson as one of the two individuals sitting in the backseat of the Cadillac and as the person who fired the shots that struck and killed Tupac.

Anderson, a member of the SSCC, was killed in 1998.

Davis’s arrest comes two months after Las Vegas police searched the Henderson, Nevada, home of his ex-wife, recovering a cell phone, photographs, a magazine featuring Tupac, .40-caliber bullets, laptops, and a copy of Davis’s biography, “Compton Street Legend.”

Davis is expected to appear in court to enter a plea in the upcoming days.

In his 2019 memoir, David discussed the dispute between his nephew and Shakur and Knight.

“Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something,” Mr. Davis said in the memoir, “Compton Street Legend.” “Tupac chose the wrong game to play.”

Davis wrote in his memoir how the men abandoned the Cadillac rental car and walked back to the hotel. The next day, they picked up the vehicle and took it back to California. It was cleaned and painted before it was returned to the rental agency. By then, Davis said it was “too late for any forensics to be accurate and reliable."

When asked if he worried the memoir would lead to his arrest, Davis told DJ Vlad during an interview:

“They want to put me in jail for life?” he said. “That’s just something I got to do.”

Marc DiGiacomo, a chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, said in court on Friday that Mr. Davis was the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Tupac Shakur and the attempted murder of Marion"Suge" Knight.

Who Was Tupac Shakur?

Tupac Amaru Shakur was 25 years old the day he died. He had already delivered numerous chart-topping music and number-one hits by then, including Dear Mama, Keep Ya Head Up, California Love, and many others. He even starred in several movies, including Juice and Poetic Justice alongside Janet Jackson.

Tupac started his career in the music industry in 1989, although made his public debut as a backup dancer for Digital Underground. He made his rapping debut on the song "Same Song" in 1991. The same year, Tupac released his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now.

His music reflected issues such as poverty, black-on-black crime, racism, and social injustice. Still today, music fans know the name Tupac Shakur. His legacy and brilliance continue to inspire musicians and fans despite the decades that have passed.