Las Vegas police conducted a search for evidence in the unsolved 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, focusing on the residence of Duane Keith Davis, aged 60, who was purportedly present in the car carrying the gunman at the time of the shooting.
Referred to as “Keefy D” or “Keffe D,” Mr. Davis has denied any involvement in the murder but has mentioned being present at the scene. So far, no arrests have been made in connection with the case.
During the search on Monday, authorities seized hard drives, tablets, and laptops from Mr. Davis’s home in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb located within 20 miles (32km) of the Las Vegas strip where Tupac Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting.
Previously, Mr. Davis had been under investigation by police in both Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but he was cleared of any involvement after denying his role in the crime. He is reportedly associated with the South Side Compton Crips street gang.
Per reports from BBC, the police were in search of “notes, writings, ledgers, and other handwritten or typed documents concerning television shows, documentaries, YouTube episodes, book manuscripts, and movies concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur”.
Several hard drives, tablets, and laptops were among the items seized during the police search. Additionally, a copy of Vibe magazine featuring Tupac and the book Compton Street Legends, which Mr. Davis co-authored, were also taken.
The warrant specified that the police were looking for items that could indicate evidence of motive and/or the identity of the perpetrator, such as photographs, undeveloped film, insurance policies, letters, address and telephone records, diaries, and other documents, whether written, typed, or stored on computer discs.
In a 2018 Netflix documentary and his 2019 book, Mr. Davis revealed that he was inside the car with the gunman who killed Tupac Shakur. In 2009, he spoke to Los Angeles police about the murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G. and provided details about Shakur’s murder under a non-prosecution deal, according to a retired officer.
During the police interview, Mr. Davis implicated his nephew, Orlando Anderson, as the one who fired the fatal shots at Shakur. Anderson had been involved in a fight with Shakur on the night of the murder and was later killed in a separate crime.
A former LAPD detective who conducted the interview has advocated for Mr. Davis’s arrest, stating in 2019 that there is enough evidence to apprehend him, as he has been “boasting about it, and making money off of it and taunting law enforcement.”
Tupac Shakur, whose stage name was stylized as 2Pac, achieved success with hits like California Love, All Eyez on Me, Changes, and I Ain’t Mad at Cha.
He died on 13 September 1996, a week after being shot four times in his car while waiting at a red light. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide.