Ex-gang leader charged with Tupac murder

 

US police have charged a former gang leader with the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur, a breakthrough in a long-running case still gripping the public.

The New York-born hip-hop legend was shot four times aged 25 in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas.

On Friday, Nevada's grand jury indicted Duane "Keffe D" Davis, 60, on one count of murder with a deadly weapon.

Police say he planned the deadly shooting after his nephew was involved in a fight with Shakur in a casino.

Davis was arrested near his Las Vegas home early on Friday, and will appear in court within days. Las Vegas police (LVMPD) have shared his mugshot.

Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating Shakur's murder, told the Associated Press he is not surprised by Mr Davis' arrest."All the other direct conspirators or participants are all dead," Mr Kading said, calling Mr Davis "the last man standing" in the case.

In court, prosecutor Marc DiaGiacomo described Mr Davis - a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang - as the "on-ground, on-site commander" who "ordered the death" of Shakur.

At a news conference later on Friday, police officer Jason Johansson said the force's persistence in the investigation had "ultimately paid off", before explaining what led to the breakthrough.

He said Orlando Anderson, the suspect's late nephew, and Shakur had been involved in a fight in a casino shortly before the rapper was shot on 7 September 1996. He died in hospital a few days later.

Mr Johansson showed reporters hotel security camera footage of Anderson being beaten. He said this ultimately led to the retaliatory shooting of Shakur as he was waiting in his car at a red light.   BY K24 NEWS