Prosecutor says Duane 'Keffe D' Davis spent 18 years telling ‘anybody who will listen’ he was guilty of Tupac's killing

Duane "Keffe D" Davis was found guilty of orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur by jurors on Monday - with one prosecutor saying he'd been bragging about his involvement for almost three decades.

Despite the shooting happening 28 years ago, Davis' criminal conviction was the first and only in the murder case. However, he was not charged with firing the shots that killed the 25-year-old - prosecutors acknowledged he was not the one behind the trigger. They argued under Nevada law that he served as the "on-the-ground commander" and the "shot-caller".

“For nearly 18 years, Duane Davis has told police, television, books, YouTube interviewers - anybody that will listen he has told he is responsible for the murder of Tupac Shakur,” Binu Palal told jurors during his closing statement in the Las Vegas courtroom.

“Tell him you hear him, find him guilty,” he later said.

Davis faces up to life in prison (Photo by Bizuayehu TESFAYE / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

It comes after the release of the 63-year-old's memoir Compton Street Legend in 2019, in which he said he obtained a handgun from an associate and jumped in a Cadillac with three others, although it does not say who took the fatal shots.

“No words exchanged, the time for talking had passed,” the book says.

The prosecutions case was largely based on this.

He was first charged in 2023, which was 27 years after the fatal shooting, which took place on September 13 1996.

"We have been through decades of pain. They have known about this guy, who been running his mouth, for years., Shakur's brother said at the time of the arrest.

"We're in a constant state of grief and remorse and pain because we have to relive it and relive what happened and think about, you know, is just as difficult."

However, at the time, the defense claimed that the memoir, which Davis co-authored, was fictionalized.

Tupac was fatally shot in 1996 (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)

Davis faces up to life in prison during the sentencing, which is expected to take place on 13 October. However, it has been said that he intends to appeal the conviction.

"He's the shot caller - in every instance in every iteration he's the leader of the South Side Crips," Palal added during his speech to the jury.

"When you have the shot caller sitting shotgun when shots are fired, there's no doubt he's responsible."

The jury were deliberating for under three hours on Monday, with the trial going on for two weeks in the Clark County District Court in Las Vegas.

During the second day of testimony, an image of a body bag carrying the California Love singer was shown in the courtroom, as well as pictures of the late star's fatal injuries.

Shakur's family, who were sat in the courtroom, turned away at the distressing images, with some of them completely walking out of the courtroom.

"I feel like the details, especially for people that are close to him, honestly for me helps... helps the grief process. I think we've been waiting 30 years to grieve properly," Zayd Akinyela, his cousin, who stayed in the room told reporters outside.

"A lot of people don't get to grieve until they understand what happened to their loved one and how it happened. That's why I wanted to stay and just see for my own personal closure."