Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former Los Angeles gang leader, has been found guilty of the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur by a Las Vegas court.
The 63-year-old was convicted on Monday after the jury deliberated for only a few hours, 30 years after Shakur’s death.
“Count one, murder with use of a deadly weapon, guilty of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon,” the jury foreperson announced.
Davis, who could face life imprisonment without parole, told Judge Carli Kierny he plans to appeal.
The former South Side Compton Crips leader was accused of ordering the September 7, 1996, shooting after his nephew was beaten by members of Shakur’s entourage at a Las Vegas casino.
“Duane Davis, in the culture of gangs, could not let that stand,” prosecutor Binu Palal said. “So what did he do? He acquired a firearm, got his group together, and went hunting for Mr Shakur.”
Shakur was in Las Vegas for a Mike Tyson heavyweight fight when a gunman in a white Cadillac pulled alongside his BMW at a red light and opened fire. He died six days later.
Prosecutors said Davis gave the gun to someone in the Cadillac’s back seat and ordered the shooting.
Davis is the only surviving person from the Cadillac. The BMW driver, Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight, was wounded.
The case became one of America’s best-known cold cases. Davis is the only person charged in the shooting.
Sentencing is set for October 13.
