The trial is expected to examine Davis's statements and the events surrounding the 1996 Las Vegas shooting. (Image: Express Image/ Abhishek Mitra)Nearly three decades after Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, former gang leader Duane “Keffe D” Davis has been found guilty of the rapper’s murder, according to the BBC.Davis, 63, was convicted by a jury in Las Vegas after a trial that focused heavily on his own accounts of the events surrounding Shakur’s death. The jury reportedly deliberated for about three hours before finding him guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.Tupac, one of the most influential figures in hip-hop, was shot multiple times on September 7, 1996, while travelling in a car driven by record executive Marion “Suge” Knight. He died in hospital six days later at the age of 25.The case remained unsolved for years and became one of the biggest mysteries in popular culture. Davis was arrested and charged with murder in 2023.According to the BBC, prosecutors built much of their case around Davis’ statements in interviews, conversations with police and his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. In the book, Davis acknowledged being in the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired and said he had supplied the weapon used in the killing.Prosecutors argued that Davis was the “on-ground, on-site commander” who helped organise the attack after an earlier confrontation involving his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson. Davis himself did not fire the weapon, but prosecutors said he obtained it and authorised the killing.Davis’ defence argued that his accounts were exaggerated or fictionalised to sell his memoir and insisted there was insufficient evidence directly linking him to the murder. The defence also highlighted the lack of photographs or eyewitness testimony placing Davis at the Las Vegas crime scene.Story continues below this adThe BBC reported that nearly everyone present during the shooting has since died. Anderson was killed in 1998, while Terrence Brown died in 2015 and Deandre Smith died in 2004. Knight, who was driving Tupac’s car, remains one of the few surviving people connected to the incident.The verdict brings a major development in a case that has generated decades of speculation and conspiracy theories. Tupac’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, was seen crying as the verdict was read.Davis has indicated that he intends to appeal. His sentencing has been scheduled for October 13, and he could face life imprisonment without parole.