New revelations have emerged in the Tupac Shakur murder case following Duane “Keefe D” Davis’ arrest. A grand jury met over five times and scoured over 300 pages of transcript throughout the course of three months to indict the former gangbanger on one count of murder with a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement. Keefe D’s own testimony in various interviews and his book implicated him as the person who called for Shakur to be killed.
“Duane Davis was the shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime, and he orchestrated the plan that was carried out,” LVMPD Lt. Jason Johansson said.
Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996 and died six days later the University of Nevada Medical Center. The primary suspect, Orlando Anderson (who’s also Keefe D’s nephew), was killed in a drive-by two years later.
“When [Davis] passed the firearm to Orlando, Orlando didn’t have a clear shot,” a witness affiliated with Keefe D’s Crip sect told the grand jury. “Big Dre is 6’6. At this time, he’s 370, 400. He’s big. And you’re not going to be able to lean over a big guy like that and get — I mean, my time of knowing things, doing — you’re not going to reach over like that because shells would have been popping all in Big Dre’s face and all kind of stuff. He can’t bend down or anything, he’s too big.”
The witness said Big Dre, who’s now dead, was actually the one who shot Shakur. Another witness testified to the grand jury that Shakur was looking out for others during those last moments of his life.
The wounded Shakur was bleeding out in his BMW’s passenger’s seat and he said to the security member approaching him, “Get on the ground. They’re going to shoot you,” according to 8NewsNow.com.
It seems that ‘Pac always knew he was on borrowed time. His former manager, Leila Steinberg, sat down with Allison Kugel to talk about why she believes her friend and former mentee is no longer alive today. She blamed it on his life at Death Row and connection to Suge Knight.
“He had many lucid moments when he got it and he wanted out,” she said. “Oh, he wanted out. But some lines you cross, you can’t come back from. The deal with Suge, you can’t come back from that. He couldn’t just walk away. I don’t think he ever wanted in [with Death Row Records].
“He was in jail and desperate, and he made a move based on desperation, and he did not understand the cost or the consequence because he was dealing with real gangsters. He is not alive today because he was dealing with real gang members. That was not him. He thought he could do this deal, get out, give Suge these three records and have his freedom. It didn’t work that way. It was never going to work that way.”
While Keefe D’s indictment is “somewhat” justice to her, she also believes it’s bittersweet because he’s here and her friend isn’t.
“You know, Keefe D lived his life for the last 27 years,” she said. “There is some relief, but it’s complicated. He wasn’t the only one involved. It’s going to take some years for this to play out. Does it make me feel better? Not really. I believe in justice, so yes, I think it was important. It’s important that these next few years play out, but it didn’t make me feel any better, or whatever I thought maybe I would feel.”