Duane Keith Davis was born in 1963 and grew up in Compton, California, where he became a member of the South Side Compton Crips street gang. Davis' father was a former U.S. Marine; his mother died from colon cancer in 1978.
On the night of September 7, 1996, actor and rapper Tupac Shakur was involved in a physical altercation with Davis' nephew and fellow Southside Crip, Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson, in the MGM Grand casino and hotel, following a boxing match between former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon. Following Shakur's initial assault, Anderson was jumped by associates, including Mob Piru gang members, of the former's record label, Death Row.
Later that night, a white Cadillac pulled up next to then-music impresario Marion "Suge" Knight's black BMW 750iL as it waited at a red light in a caravan of approximately 10 vehicles at the Koval Lane and East Flamingo Road intersection on the Vegas strip. At about 11:15pm, an occupant of the vehicle opened fire on the Beamer, striking Knight once before hitting the sole passenger, Shakur, four times, out of 14 total shots fired. Knight immediately completed a U-turn and speeding off on a flat tire and bent wheel on Flamingo until he was pulled over by Sergeant Chris Carroll of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's bike patrol unit about a mile away at the corner of Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. When Carroll, who pulled his gun on Knight, asked who shot him, Shakur responded, "F*ck you." Paramedics called by Sergeant Carroll transported the pair to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada shortly before midnight.
Hit once in the arm and thigh and twice in the chest, Shakur was operated on twice within a 20-hour span, during which his right lung was removed. He was pronounced dead at 4:03 pm UMC on September 13, as a result of cardiopulmonary arrest and respiratory failure. Knight, who was grazed in the head by a bullet fragment, made a full recovery. Both Davis and Anderson were occupants of the Cadillac, along with DeAndre "Freaky" Smith and the driver, Terrence "Bubble Up" Brown, who was shot to death in Compton in 2015. Anderson was named as a suspect but never charged prior to his 1998 death in an unrelated shooting. He also denied any connection to the shooting to CNN.
In 2008 and 2009, Davis was interviewed by then Los Angeles police detective Greg Kading as part of the latter's investigation into the 1997 murder of rapper Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace. Davis confessed to his involvement in Shakur's killing in 2009 as part of a proffer agreement, which granted him immunity covering his revelations during the interview. Davis has since publicly asserted that federal investigators revealed that Combs gave Harlem-based underworld and music industry figure and godfather to Wallace's child, Eric "Von Zip" Martin, $1 million to pass along to Davis as payment for killing Shakur but that Martin kept it for himself.
In 2014, Davis was diagnosed with colon cancer and would subsequently have part of his intestines surgically removed.
In 2018, Davis sat for an interview on a show that aired on BET, during which he once again admitted that he was in the Cadillac used in Shakur's shooting and named Anderson as one of two possible shooters.
In 2019, Davis published his memoir, entitled "Compton Street Legend", in which he admitted to sitting in the front passenger seat of the Cadillac used in Shakur's drive-by and to supplying the .40-caliber handgun (a Glock) used to the shooter, Orlando Anderson, who sat in the backseat next to fellow South Side Crip, DeAndre Smith. He also revealed that he detailed his involvement in Shakur's murder during a 2010 meeting with local and federal investigators. Davis explained that because he was facing a life sentence if convicted of drug charges, "They promised they would shred the indictment and stop the grand jury if I helped them out."
On July 17, 2023, Las Vegas police conducted a raid on Davis' home, which he shares with his wife, Paula Clemons, located in Henderson, Nevada, in search of evidence connecting Davis to the slain actor. Among other things, authorities seized a copy of Davis' book, a Vibe magazine featuring Shakur, computers and .40-caliber bullets. Later that month, a Clark County, Nevada grand jury was convened to hear testimony from a variety of witnesses, including former police officers and associates of both Davis and Shakur.
On the morning of September 29, Davis was arrested while taking a walk near his residence and charged with Shakur's murder. Hours later, Vegas law enforcement officials announced during a press conference that he'd been indicted on a single count of murder with a deadly weapon. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Lt. Jason Johansson revealed that investigators had gathered most of the relevant facts "within the first few months of the investigation," but explained that "we never had the necessary evidence to bring this case forward and presented for criminal charges." He added that law enforcement's efforts were aided by Davis' "own admissions to his involvement in this homicide investigation that he provided to numerous different media outlets. We knew at this time that this was likely our last time to take a run at this case to successfully solve this case and bring forth a criminal charge." Johansson further revealed that items seized from Davis' home "corroborated information obtained through our investigation." The grand jury also recommended a sentence enhancement for gang activity.
In January of 2024, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny set Davis' bail at $750,000 following his plea of not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. However, in June of that year, she denied attempts by music impresario Cash "Wack 100" Jones, who managed rappers Jayceon "the Game" Taylor and Johnathan "Blueface" Porter, to post bond on Davis' behalf, citing both prosecutor Binu Palal's and her own suspicion that the bond agent submitted false documentation regarding the funds. On August 27, 2024, during a bail hearing before Kierny, Davis accused correction officers at Las Vegas' Clark County Detention Center of assaulting him in his cell and stealing $300 worth of food from him weeks earlier. Judge Kierny granted Davis a continuance for the start of his trial -- previously slated for November 4, 2024 -- which was rescheduled for March 17, 2025, after denying him bail, leaving him incarcerated in protective custody
