Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison following his conviction in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur.
The sentence was handed down Tuesday at a Las Vegas courthouse, where Tupac’s family members addressed the court and urged the judge to impose the maximum punishment available.
The hearing began tensely, according to TMZ’s account, with Davis exchanging words with the judge and appearing to roll his eyes at one point.
Tupac’s sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, delivered an emotional victim impact statement, speaking about the lasting effect her brother’s death has had on their family. She said the men in her family have never been the same since the rapper was killed.
Sekyiwa compared Tupac’s cultural significance to that of figures including Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. She asked the judge to consider what the world might have lost by Tupac’s death at age 25 and called for the maximum sentence.
Mopreme Shakur, Tupac’s stepbrother, also spoke during the hearing. He reflected on the family milestones Tupac never got to experience, including having children and watching his nieces and nephews grow up. He, too, asked the court to impose the maximum punishment.
Prosecutors argued that Davis had profited from Tupac’s killing through a book and interviews, adding to the pain experienced by the rapper’s family. Davis’ attorney, Michael Sanft, disputed that argument, calling it disingenuous and contending that authorities could have charged Davis earlier but did not.
Davis was convicted in August 2026 of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon, with the case also involving an allegation that the killing was intended to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He faces a sentence that allows for life imprisonment, and he has indicated that he plans to appeal the conviction.
Despite the verdict, Davis has continued to maintain his innocence. In a post-conviction interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he insisted he was nowhere near the location where Tupac was shot in Las Vegas.
Davis has previously made statements about his role in the rapper’s death, but his defense team has argued those comments were boasts made in an effort to profit from the case. He has also claimed that he was at a bar in West Los Angeles near UCLA after the Mike Tyson fight, rather than near the Las Vegas Strip where Tupac was shot.
Tupac was shot in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas in September 1996 and died several days later. His murder remained unresolved for decades before Davis was arrested and prosecuted.
The sentence marks a major development in the long-running case, while Davis’ planned appeal means the legal fight may continue.
