Tupac's Killer Gets 40 Years. His Last Words at Sentencing: 'No, I'm Good.'

Thirty years, one memoir, and a three-hour jury deliberation. On Tuesday morning, Las Vegas Judge Carli Kierny sentenced Duane "Keffe D" Davis to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of Tupac Shakur in 1996.

When the judge asked if he had anything else to say, Davis replied: "No, I'm good."

Davis, 63, was convicted in August of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon. The sentence runs as two consecutive 20-year-to-life terms: one for the murder, one mandatory enhancement for profiting from it. He received credit for 731 days already served. Chief Deputy DA Binu Palal called out years of Davis "bragging about killing someone they loved," and prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo told the court Davis is "guaranteed to die" behind bars.

The case that closed itself

Shakur was shot at a Las Vegas red light on September 7, 1996, after attending a Mike Tyson fight with Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight. A white Cadillac pulled alongside their BMW and fired. Shakur died six days later; Knight survived. Police knew a white Cadillac was involved and suspected South Side Compton Crips members, but no one was charged for nearly three decades.

Davis, a former gang leader, had given investigators a broad outline of events early on and avoided prosecution through a prior arrangement with law enforcement. Then, in 2019, he published "Compton Street Legend," a memoir in which he described being in the Cadillac and identified his nephew, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, as the shooter. Anderson and the other men believed to be in the car have since died, leaving Davis as the only living suspect.

At trial, the defense argued there was no physical evidence: no surveillance footage, no phone records, no forensics that placed Davis in Las Vegas that night. Everything beyond his own story came from his own story. The jury needed three hours.

The Diddy detail no one charged

One of the more explosive moments in the trial: Davis testified that Sean "Diddy" Combs offered him money to kill both Shakur and Knight. Combs denied any involvement. The allegation produced no additional charges. Combs is currently serving a separate prison sentence on prostitution-related convictions.

Defense attorney Michael Sanft said he plans to appeal, arguing prosecutors waited too long to bring the case. DA Steve Wolfson told reporters his office does not believe sufficient evidence exists to charge anyone else, though new evidence could change that.

Shakur's siblings, Maurice "Mopreme" Shakur and Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, spoke at the sentencing. Davis asked the court to return photographs and personal items seized from his home during the investigation. Then he said he had nothing more to add.

The appeal clock starts now.

Tupac's Killer Gets 40 Years. His Last Words at Sentencing: 'No, I'm Good.'

The case that closed itself

The Diddy detail no one charged

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