Timeline of Tupac’s murder investigation, from 1994 to now
Just shy of three decades since rap and cultural icon Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, an arrest has finally been made into his murder.
The cold case breakthrough kicked off on July 17 after police searched a home on the outskirts of the Sin City strip in Henderson, Nevada.
The evidence found led to the arrest of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 60, who was taken into custody by Las Vegas police on Sept. 28 and now faces a charge of murder with a deadly weapon for Shakur’s death 27 years ago.
Here’s a breakdown of the events leading up to Davis’ arrest.
Nov. 30, 1994: Tupac is shot five times in New York City
Two years before Shakur was killed, the “All Eyez on Me” rapper was shot five times in the elevator at Quad Studios in Times Square during a robbery.
“I dropped to the floor. Everything in my mind said, Pac, pretend you’re dead. It didn’t matter. They started kicking me, hitting me. I never said, ‘Don’t shoot!’ I was quiet as hell,” Shakur said in an April 1995 interview with Vibe magazine.
Rapper Tupac Shakur poses for photos backstage after his performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois in March 1994Getty Images
Shakur suggested that Bad Boy Records producer Sean Combs (Puff Daddy) and rapper Christopher Wallace (Notorious B.I.G) were at the studio and may have been aware he was being set up.
“Puffy was there, Biggie… there was about 40 n—as there. All of them had jewels on. More jewels than me,” Sahkur said at the time.
“I had just beeped the buzzer and said I was coming upstairs.”
Sep. 7, 1996: altercation with Compton Crips at Tyson fight
Shakur and the head of Death Row Records, Suge Knight, Shakur’s fiancee, Kidada Jones, and an entourage arrived in Las Vegas to watch a heavyweight title fight between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon.
The “How Do U Want It” rapper and Knight take the front-row seats at the MGM Grand Garden Arena at around 8:30 p.m. for the fight that lasted less than two minutes due to a first-round knockout by Tyson.
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Heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson talking with Shakur in Las Vegas in 1996 prior to the rapper’s killing.Getty Images
Upon leaving the arena at around 8:50 p.m., surveillance video captured Shakur, Knight, and their entourage getting into a brawl with members of the South Side Compton Crips — which included Davis and his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson — in the hotel and casino area, according to reports.
The fight broke out due to Knight’s Blood-affiliated gang, Mob Piru, Las Vegas police said.
Surveillance video showed Shakur and Knight kicking and punching Anderson near a bank of elevators, police said.
Shakur, Knight, and their entourage left the area a little after 9 p.m.
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Shakur and with Death Row Records producer and friend Suge Knight.FilmMagic
After-party and shooting
From leaving the MGM Grand til 11 p.m., the timeline leading up to Shakur being shot is foggy.
The “Juice” actor did join the new heavyweight champ Tyson and Knight at the Deathrow Record owner’s nightclub, Club 662.
While in the club, Davis was prepping his retaliation for the earlier altercation with Shakur and Knight and fetched a gun from his home, police alleged at a news conference Friday.
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Shakur was sitting in the passenger seat of Knight’s black BMW the night he was gunned down near the Las Vegas Strip.
AP
At around 11 p.m., the “Hit Em Up” rapper was riding in the passenger seat of Knight’s black BMW near the Las Vegas Strip when they were pulled over by police for blasting music and not properly displaying the vehicle’s license plate.
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They were released without being served a ticket after Knight fixed the car’s plates.
At about 11:15 p.m., the BMW stopped at a red light at Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, a block from the Strip.
Malcolm Greenidge, one of Shakur’s lifelong friends, was in the car behind them on the way back to Club 662.
“Some women drove up on the passenger side. Mr. Shakur began talking to the women. We couldn’t really hear what he was saying. We assumed he was probably inviting them to the club,” Greenidge told the grand jury that indicted Davis, according to reports.
Moments later, the women pulled away, and a white Cadillac quietly crept alongside Knight’s BMW.
“An arm came out of the back window and began shooting,” Greenidge told the grand jury.
The BMW Shakur was shot near the Las Vegas Strip.The LIFE Images Collection/Getty
The shooter fired over a dozen rounds into the car in a matter of seconds before the Cadillac peeled off.
Shakur was hit with four bullets — taking two of them to his chest.
Knight was only grazed in the head by a bullet fragment, according to reports.
Around 11:20 p.m., police and paramedics arrived, and Shakur was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada Hospital.
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Shakur during a concert at the Regal Theater in Chicago, Illinois in March 1994.Getty Images
Sep. 13, 1996: Tupac dies
Having undergone multiple surgeries — including having to be placed on a respirator after having a lung removed — Shakur would battle in the ICU for nearly a week before succumbing to his injuries.
The “Changes” rapper died of cardiac arrest. He was 25.
March 9, 1997: Biggie is killed in LA
The Notorious B.I.G. is shot and killed in Los Angeles. He was 24.
His death, which is widely rumored to have been connected to Shakur’s murder — even suspected as retaliation — remains unsolved.
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Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson hold a news conference at the LVMPD headquarters on the arrest and indictment of Davis for the murder of Shakur on Sept. 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Getty Images
September 1997: Lawsuits filed
Anderson filed a lawsuit against Shakur’s estate for alleged damages he suffered in a brawl with the rapper at the MGM Grand just hours before he was killed in the drive-by, the LA Times reported at the time.
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Afeni Shakur, Shakur’s mother, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Anderson, with the grieving mother alleging Anderson fatally shot her son, the outlet reported.
May 29, 1998: Anderson is killed
Anderson is shot and killed in a gangland shooting in LA County. He was 23.
He was never charged with Shakur’s murder and denied involvement in the rapper’s death.
2002: Las Vegas Police reopen the case
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reopened Shakur’s murder case, citing new leads and advancements in forensic technology.
Detectives interview witnesses and reexamine evidence.
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An image on a television monitor shows Shakur (L) and Knight attending the boxing match at MGM in Las Vegas the night Shakur was killed.
Getty Images
February 2018: New interest
Upon release of the limited series Netflix documentary “Unsolved: The Tupac and Biggie Murders,” about the investigations by two LAPD detectives into the killings of the rappers, reignited interest in Shakur’s murder.
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Following the series release, the Tupac probe gained new momentum, the law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
April 2019: Davis releases tell-all memoir
Davis releases his book “Compton Street Legend,” where he mentions being one of two living eyewitnesses to Shakur’s murder.
Davis wrote in the memoir that he was one of the men in the car.
In Friday’s news conference, Law enforcement shared that Davis was sitting in the passenger seat and handed the gun he’d obtained to one of the men in the back.
“One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back,” Davis wrote.
“As the rounds continued flying, I ducked down so that I wouldn’t get hit.”
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Davis’ tell-all book “Compton Street Legend,” where he mentions being one of two living eyewitnesses to Tupac’s murder.
KingDoMedia
Davis also claimed in his book that Anderson fatally shot Shakur.
Knight, the other living eyewitness, is now serving a 28-year sentence for manslaughter in an unrelated California case.
The other two men in the car, Terrence Brown and DeAndre Smith are now dead.
The book also helped spark new interest in the investigation, law enforcement told ABC News.
July 17, 2023: Police raid Davis’ home
Las Vegas police got approved by the courts to search Davis’ home in Henderson, Nevada.
Police body camera footage of Las Vegas SWAT officers entering Davis’s home on July 17, 2023.AP
The official said that investigators seized a computer, hard drives, and magazine articles about Tupac and his death.
Police also found a .40-caliber cartridge — the same type as the many casings that were recovered from the scene where Shakur was shot, according to a search warrant obtained by The Post.
Sept. 28, 2023: Davis is indicted
A Clark County grand jury indicts Davis on one count of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement.
He is the only living suspect in the homicide investigation, authorities said.
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Davis after being arrested by police on Sept. 26, 2023.
LVMPD/MEGA
Sep. 29, 2023: Davis is arrested
Davis is arrested for Shakur’s murder while on a walk near his home, about 16 miles from the Las Vegas Strip.
Clark County Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo described Davis as the “on-ground, on-site commander” and “shot caller” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.
