25-year-old musical sensation Tupac Shakur was gunned down while riding in a car on the Las Vegas strip on 7 September, 1996 - and authorities have now arrested Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis on suspicion of murder.
ADVERTISEMENTAn arrest has been made in Tupac Shakur's killing, the latest twist in one of the biggest unsolved cases in hip-hop history.
Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis was arrested on suspicion of murder early on Friday morning - and has been indicted on a murder charge in Las Vegas.
The case returned to the spotlight in July when Nevada authorities served a search warrant in connection with the rap star’s shooting death.
What’s changed in the investigation?
Authorities on Friday arrested Davis, whose name has long been linked with Shakur's death. He’s the relative of a man who emerged as a suspect shortly after the rapper’s killing.
Shakur was gunned down while riding in a car on the Las Vegas strip on 7 September, 1996.
In July this year, authorities executed a warrant in the nearby city of Henderson at Davis' house. He's the uncle of Orlando Anderson, one of Shakur’s known rivals who authorities have long suspected shot the rapper.
Anderson maintained his innocence over Shakur’s killing at the time, dying two years later in an unrelated gang shooting in Compton, California.
Details from the warrant obtained by The Associated Press shows detectives collected multiple computers, a cellular telephone, “documentary documents”, a Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, several .40-calibre bullets, two “tubs containing photographs” and a copy of Davis’ 2019 memoir, 'Compton Street Legend'.
What do we know about the night Tupac was shot?
The late, 25-year-old rapper was travelling in a black BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion ‘Suge’ Knight in a convoy of about 10 cars, apparently headed to a nightclub.
He had previously watched superstar athlete Mike Tyson knock out Bruce Seldon in a championship fight at the MGM Grand venue.
After the match Shakur, Knight and associates were said to have been involved in a fight at the hotel.
While driving down the Las Vegas Strip, a white Cadillac with four men inside it pulled alongside Knight’s BMW while it was stopped at a red light.
One person opened fire, riddling the passenger side of Knight’s car with bullets, according to police.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Shakur was shot four times - and at least two of those bullets landed in his chest. Knight was grazed by a bullet fragment - or shrapnel - from the car.
Shakur was rushed to a hospital, where he died six days later.
An impressive legacy
ADVERTISEMENTShakur remains as one of the most prolific figures in hip-hop and is also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli.
While his professional music career only lasted five years before being cut short, he sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including the hugely popular, diamond-certified album ‘All Eyez on Me’.
Shakur had five Number 1 albums during his lifetime, along with three posthumous releases: 1996’s ‘The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory’, 2001’s ‘Until the End of Time’ and 2004’s ‘Loyal to the Game’.
The six-time Grammy-nominated artist was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by fellow rap icon Snoop Dogg in 2017.
Shakur was also a rising actor, starring in several popular films such as John Singleton's ‘Poetic Justice’ with Janet Jackson and Ernest Dickerson's ‘Juice’. He also played major roles in ‘Gang Related’ and ‘Above the Rim’.
ADVERTISEMENTBack in April, a five-part FX docuseries delved into the past of the rapper’s mother, Afeni Shakur, as a female leader in the Black Panther Party, while exploring Tupac’s journey as a political visionary and becoming one of the greatest rap artists of all time.
Proving his staying power even after his death, Shakur received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year.
At the ceremony, radio personality Big Boy paid tribute, saying: “He defied the distinction between art and activism”.
