Police say Davis masterminded the fatal shooting. He was charged with open homicide with the use of a deadly weapon and gang strengthening, prosecutors first revealed at a news convention Friday.
In 2018, Davis made statements to the media that “reinvigorated” the investigation, police said.
WHO IS DUANE “KEFFE D” DAVIS, SUSPECT IN TUPAC’S MURDER?
Duane “Keffe D” Davis entered the courtroom on Oct. 4. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, Pool)
Duane Davis has been charged with murder in connection with the 1996 death of Tupac Shakur. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Journal-Journal AP, Pool)
The charges came to light hours after Davis, 60, was arrested while walking near his home.
Grand juries also voted in favor of an early sentencing for the use of a deadly weapon and alleged gang activity. If Davis is convicted, his sentence could increase by decades.
Assistant Attorney General Marc DiGiacomo, a grand jury, has been working on the case for “several months. “The prosecutor described Davis as the “commander on the ground” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.
The arraignment of Duane “Keffe D” Davis was postponed until Oct. 19. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal AP, Pool)
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Police also said Davis received the gun used to kill Shakur from a “close associate. “Davis has been described as the “shooter” of an organization of 3 suspects, all now deceased, and accused of orchestrating the rapper’s murder plot.
Shakur was shot dead in a drive-by shooting on Sept. 7, 1996.
The last living witness of Tupac Shakur’s last moments has been charged in connection with his murder on September 29. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Getty Images)
The rapper was driving a shotgun in the black BMW of Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Kevening when a white Cadillac pulled up next to them as they were stopped at a red light. In a 2018 interview with Davis, he claimed that everyone on that night, the Cadillac was a member of the South Side Compton Crips gang.
The gang is searching for Shakur, who was allegedly involved in a fight with a member in the hours leading up to the fatal shooting.
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WATCH: TUPAC-BIGGIE’S CHIEF MURDER DETECTOR REACTS TO ARREST IN TUPAC HOMICIDE
Davis, who made the confession in “Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B. I. G. “The documentary revealed that the shots came from the back seat.
Shakur was only five years old at the time. His fourth solo album, “All Eyez on Me,” remains at the top of the charts with around five million copies sold.
Investigators have known Davis for a long time and police raided his home on July 17 in connection with Tupac Shakur’s death.
“Go out with your hands up and your hands empty!”In a SWAT video, law enforcement officers were heard shouting as blue and red lamps lit up the quiet community of Henderson, about 20 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.
WATCH: POLICE RAID HOME IN CONNECTION WITH TUPAC SHAKUR MURDER
Authorities seized a Pokeball thumb drive, an iPhone, 3 iPads (including one with a broken screen), 4 laptops, a tablet, a desktop computer, several external hard drives, copies of the “Compton Street Legends” e-book, a Vibe magazine about Shakur, and two “black containers” of photographs, according to the search warrant.
Police also searched for “notes, writings, records and other handwritten or typed documents” about the mention of Shakur’s killing, according to the documents.
At the September 29 press conference, the government demonstrated that it had seized evidence using the search warrant that “corroborated” the data it had accumulated in the investigation.
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Chris Eberhart of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.