This Friday, Sept 29, 2023, photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Duane Keith Davis following his arrest outside his home in Henderson, Nev. Davis, known as "Keffe D," was indicted on a murder charge in the Sept. 7, 1996, killing of rap music icon Tupac Shakur. After 27 years, Davis became the first person arrested in one of hip-hop's most enduring mysteries. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Newly released police body camera video shows officers arresting Duane “Keffe D” Davis on suspicion of murder in the 1996 shooting of Tupac Shakur off the Las Vegas Strip.
Davis, 60, was walking near his home in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson on Sept. 29 when Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers approached at dawn and called out to Davis, who was on the other side of the street.
“Hey Keffe, Metro Police. Come over here,” the officer said.
Davis, holding a water bottle, cooperated and was handcuffed. Comments between Davis and the officers mostly focused on his request for water.
While being driven on a freeway, Davis does not appear in the video but is heard asking an officer if he was followed the previous night. The officer said no. Davis asked, “So why you all didn’t bring the media?” The officer asked why they would bring media and Davis replied, “That’s what you all do.”
Later, while parked and with neither Davis nor officers visible on camera, someone out of the frame asked, “So what they got you for, man?”
“Biggest case in Las Vegas history,” Davis replied. After being asked if it was recent, he added, “September 7th, 1996,” which is the night Shakur, then 25, was fatally shot.
Police and prosecutors say Davis orchestrated the killing of the hip-hop icon and provided his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, with the gun to do it. Anderson, who denied involvement in Shakur’s killing, died in 1998.
Davis had been a long-known suspect in the case, and publicly admitted his role in the killing in interviews ahead of his 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”
In mid-July, Las Vegas police raided Davis’ home, drawing renewed attention to one of hip-hop music’s most enduring mysteries.
Davis’ first court appearance this week was cut short when he asked the judge for a postponement while he retains counsel. He’s due in court again Oct. 19.
