Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who was convicted of murder for the 1996 slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur on Monday, has claimed he is innocent in a new interview.
The 63-year-old former Crips boss could spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was found guilty of plotting the drive-by shooting that killed Shakur at age 25.
But in a lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter this week, Davis insisted, “I’m a good man, man. I’m a good person. I’m not no f***ing killer.”
He reportedly told the outlet he does not believe he will stay in prison, saying, “I ain’t worried. I’m getting out on an appeal. We already filed it before the trial even started. They violated my civil rights!”
Judge Carli Kierny will sentence Davis, who is currently locked up at Clark County Detention Center, on October 13.
“I’m innocent, man. They got an innocent man sitting in jail. I’ve got two grandsons that are going to the pros in football. They All-Americans — one of them is in high school. He has 25 scholarship offers, and the other one is in college. And when they get their millions, they’re coming to get me out of here,’ Davis said.
He also added that he has “nothing to say” to the rapper’s family and “didn’t like” how they looked at him inside the courtroom.
As the guilty verdict was read in court, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, Shakur’s sister, appeared to cry quietly, CNN reported.
Prosecutors argued Davis orchestrated the music artist’s murder after Shakur’s entourage attacked his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, a few hours earlier at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas following a Mike Tyson fight.
Davis allegedly supplied the weapon and set in motion the shooting that killed the hip-hop icon, but did not pull the trigger.
In closing arguments on Monday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal described to jurors how Davis acquired a .40-caliber handgun and “went hunting” for Tupac Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight.
One critical detail, Palal said, remained consistent, that is, Davis repeatedly placed himself inside the white Cadillac from which the shots were fired. “The core facts remain. The material facts remain,” Palal said.
But Davis’s defense attorney Michael Sanft challenged jurors to identify evidence outside his client’s own statements that placed him in Las Vegas or inside the Cadillac on the night Shakur was shot.
He also noted there was an absence of surveillance footage, phone records and other evidence putting Davis in the city.
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