A former gang leader accused of masterminding the 1996 drive-by shooting of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.
asserted
leader → accuse → prison
Tuesday’s sentencing capped a 30-year-long cold case that rattled the golden era of rap music in the United States.
asserted
that → cap → States
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Former gang leader found guilty of Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder
- list 2 of 3Tupac Shakur killer sentenced to 40 years in prison
- list 3 of 3Who killed Tupac?
asserted
list → find → Tupac
In August, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, had been found guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon.
asserted
Davis → find → weapon
Davis, 63, is the sole person charged in the death of Shakur, who died at the peak of his fame at age 25.
asserted
who → charge → age
Judge Carli Kierny announced Davis’s sentence at a hearing in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she chided him for the murder.
asserted
she → announce → murder
“You don’t get to take a man from his family, you don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him and just walk away from it, especially when that man is Tupac Shakur,” Kierny said.
asserted
Kierny → get → it
“The world never forgot about him and his death, and neither did Las Vegas.”
asserted
Vegas → forget → him
During the hearing, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo said that whatever sentence the court imposes, Davis is “guaranteed to die” behind bars.
asserted
Davis → say → bars
For nearly three decades, Shakur’s death remained one of the music industry’s most notorious unsolved mysteries, prompting endless debate over who did it and why.
asserted
who → remain → it
Davis had long been a suspect, but investigators lacked evidence to pursue an indictment.
asserted
investigators → lack → indictment
The investigative deadlock shattered after Davis publicly boasted about his involvement in media interviews.
asserted
Davis → shatter → interviews
He also recounted his role in the murder in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend.
asserted
He → recount → memoir
Previously, Davis entered into a 2008 proffer agreement with federal law enforcement officers, granting him limited immunity for statements he made privately to investigators.
asserted
he → enter → investigators
But by repeating his statements outside his meetings with investigators, prosecutors said Davis had effectively voided the agreement’s protections.
asserted
Davis → repeat → protections
DiGiacomo said that Davis was trying to profit from a killing that he committed, and for that, he deserves the maximum possible sentence.
asserted
he → say → sentence
Shakur had been in Las Vegas for a Mike Tyson heavyweight fight on the night of September 7, 1996, when he was shot.
asserted
he → shoot → September
Investigators said the shooting took place roughly two hours after a confrontation between Davis’s nephew, Orlando Anderson, and Shakur’s entourage.
asserted
shooting → say → nephew
In his memoir, Davis accused Shakur and his friends of assaulting his nephew.
asserted
Davis → accuse → nephew
He explained he then sought to retaliate, and he admitted to handing the murder weapon to two alleged accomplices, seated in the backseat of a white Cadillac, who then fired the fatal shots.
asserted
who → explain → shots
Shakur had been in the passenger seat of a black BMW, stopped at a red light, when his vehicle came under fire.
asserted
vehicle → stop → fire
He died six days later.
asserted
He → die → ?
Members of Shakur’s family spoke at the sentencing, including his siblings Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur and Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur.
asserted
Members → speak → siblings
“This man’s life mattered,” Sekyiwa Shakur told the court, while her brother called the murder “devastating, heartbreaking and sad”.
asserted
brother → matter → murder
Following the verdict, Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal described the Shakur family as having to endure years of Davis “bragging about killing someone they loved”.
asserted
they → follow → someone
“They loved that man.
asserted
They → love → man
And the arrogance that Mr Davis had in expressing his joy in killing that man ultimately was his undoing,” Palal said.
asserted
Palal → have → man
The ex-gang leader briefly addressed the court on Tuesday, asking the judge to order the return of property seized from his residence, including personal photographs.
asserted
leader → address → photographs
When the judge asked if he wished to make any additional statements, Davis declined, stating, “No, I’m good.”
asserted
I → ask → statements
He added that he would “appeal this case for sure”.
asserted
he → add → case
The Aporia
