Duane Davis, the former Crips boss convicted of murder in the 1996 slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison.
Davis, 63, was convicted in August of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. Judge Carli Kierny sentenced him Tuesday afternoon in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada.
‘The world never forgot about him and his death,’ the judge said of the legendary rapper.
Tupac’s siblings, Sekyiwa ‘Set’ Shakur and Maurice Shakur, gave emotional impact statements during the sentencing, with Sekyiwa calling the night of her brother’s death ‘a night of hunting and murdering.’
‘He was my shining star – my prince,’ Sekyiwa continued.
Maurice said his brother was never given a trial, calling Tupac’s death ‘devastating’ for his family and pop culture.
Sekyiwa called on the judge to deliver the maximum sentence, asking for Davis to be punished for the pain he caused to her family and the world.
She praised Shakur as her protector, confessing through tears that she was forced to live three decades without his protection.
Duane Davis, 63, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday
Tupac Shakur was killed at the age of 25 on September 7, 1996
Sekyiwa ‘Set’ Shakur, Tupac’s sister, asked the judge to deliver the maximum sentence in an emotional impact statement during the hearing
Sekyiwa admitted that her brother’s death ‘crippled [her] family emotionally,’ noting that she has since been hospitalized multiple times for depression, suicidal ideation, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Davis listened to Sekyiwa’s testimony in shackles and prison gear. He appeared stone-faced as Tupac’s sister broke down over his brutal murder.
‘Both of my children were raised in my grief, so they have trust issues, abandonment issues, relationship issues,’ she said.
Sekyiwa noted that her brother was murdered just after he turned 25 years old, imploring the judge to consider what the world would have been like if he were still alive.
She praised her brother for his art, adding that he had manifestos and aspirations for advocacy.
Sekyiwa compared her brother to the likes of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, asking the courtroom to imagine what would have happened if they were killed before the age of 26.
‘I miss my brother. I miss the scars on his head. I miss the way he ate. I miss his recipe for barbecue chicken. I miss his laugh. He was sloppy with his laugh. So full, so big,’ she tearfully recalled.
‘I was the little sister that just wanted to be with her brother.’
Davis received the maximum sentence in Clark County District Court. He sat stone-faced while the judge delivered his sentence of 40 years to life
Sekyiwa broke down in tears when discussing the emotional impact her brother’s death has had on her and her family
Maurice Shakur, Tupac’s brother, said his brother was never given a trial, calling Tupac’s death ‘devastating’ for his family and pop culture
Before Davis was handed his sentence, Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo said he would be ‘guaranteed to die’ behind bars.
DiGiacomo argued that Shakur’s death meant more than just the killing of a family member, adding that Davis was trying to profit off the killing.
Prosecutors argued Davis planned the strike after Shakur’s entourage attacked his nephew, Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson, a few hours earlier at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas following a Mike Tyson fight.
Davis then allegedly supplied the weapon and set in motion the shooting that killed the hip-hop icon, but did not pull the trigger.
The prosecution pointed to a 2008 agreement Davis reached with federal investigators who were looking into the death of Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls.
Davis was approached about the murder of Wallace, but instead talked about the Shakur shooting.
He had allegedly believed the deal, called a proffer, offered him immunity, but was not shielded from any future prosecution on state murder charges.
The final piece of the puzzle came when Davis published his memoir, Compton Street Legend, in 2019.
He described in the book how he played a role in Shakur’s murder, which led to a renewed investigation into the 1996 killing.
Tupac was killed in a drive-by shooting. He was sitting next to Suge Knight before shots rang out. The rapper was photographed above just minutes before his death
Davis recalled in his memoir how Shakur and his entourage beat his nephew up hours before the drive-by shooting.
He claimed that the alleged assault motivated the shooting, writing that he was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac and passed the gun to the backseat before shots were fired.
Davis is the only person ever charged in the killing. The three other passengers of the Cadillac have died.
Davis’s attorneys argued during the trial that there was a lack of physical evidence that connected him to the killing.
After nine days of testimony, the jury deliberated for three hours and returned a guilty verdict. The defense now plans to appeal.
