The 63-year-old Davis was convicted Monday after jurors deliberated for less than three hours following a trial that brought renewed attention to one of the most closely watched unsolved killings in music history. The conviction leaves Davis facing the possibility of life in prison without parole.
Davis, who had pleaded not guilty, remained composed as the verdict was read before telling the judge that he intended to challenge the decision.
“I plan to appeal this matter,” Davis said.
The verdict prompted an emotional scene inside the courtroom. Tupac’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, cried as the decision was announced and later embraced members of the prosecution team. Davis’ son covered his face with one hand, while several people in the gallery wiped away tears.
For Tupac’s family, the conviction brought a measure of closure to a case that had remained unresolved for almost 30 years.
But the verdict did not answer every question surrounding the rapper’s death. Prosecutors accused Davis of orchestrating the shooting and supplying the firearm, but they did not allege that he personally fired the fatal shots. The identity of the person who pulled the trigger remains unresolved in the case.
PROSECUTION BUILT CASE AROUND DAVIS’ OWN WORDS
A central element of the prosecution’s case was Davis’ own account of the events surrounding Shakur’s death.
Over the years, Davis had made a series of public statements about the shooting, including accounts contained in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, as well as recordings of conversations with investigators.
Prosecutors argued that although Davis’ descriptions changed in some details over time, one crucial element remained consistent: he repeatedly placed himself inside the white Cadillac involved in the shooting.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors that if they accepted Davis’ statements, they did not need additional independent evidence to establish his involvement.
Palal described Davis as the person who obtained the weapon and helped organise the group that went looking for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight.
“Who fired is not the question,” Palal told jurors, arguing that Davis could be held responsible for his role in the killing even if he was not the gunman.
The prosecution also maintained that the shooting was not a spontaneous act.
“It’s a plan, not an impulse,” Palal said, pointing to evidence that Davis and the other men searched for Shakur and Knight before encountering them on the Las Vegas Strip.
DEFENCE CHALLENGES DAVIS’ ACCOUNT
Davis’ defence team urged jurors to view his public statements with scepticism, arguing that he had exaggerated his role over the years for money, publicity and personal protection.
Defence attorney Michael Sanft challenged prosecutors to produce independent evidence placing Davis inside the Cadillac or even in Las Vegas on the night of September 7, 1996.
“They have nothing in this case that says that man was here in Las Vegas on Sept. 7, 1996,” Sanft told jurors.
The defence argued that Davis’ changing accounts demonstrated that his statements could not be relied upon as proof of guilt.
But prosecutors countered that the differences did not undermine the central elements of his account. They argued that Davis had repeatedly acknowledged being in the vehicle and providing the weapon used in the attack.
The jury ultimately rejected the defence’s argument and returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
THE NIGHT TUPAC WAS SHOT
Tupac Shakur was 25 when he was attacked in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996.
Earlier that night, Shakur and members of his entourage had been involved in a confrontation with Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, Davis’ nephew, at the MGM Grand following a Mike Tyson boxing match.
Prosecutors said the confrontation became the motive for the later attack.
According to the prosecution’s account, Davis and three other men subsequently travelled in a white Cadillac in search of Shakur and Knight.
Shakur was travelling in a BMW driven by Knight when the Cadillac pulled alongside them at a red light. Gunfire erupted, striking Shakur several times. Knight was also wounded but survived.
Shakur was taken to hospital but died from his injuries six days later.
His death shocked the music world and transformed what had already been a turbulent period in hip-hop into one of the genre’s defining tragedies.
A CASE THAT REMAINED COLD FOR YEARS
For years, investigators failed to make an arrest in the killing.
The case eventually gained renewed momentum after Davis began speaking publicly about his alleged involvement. His memoir and subsequent interviews provided investigators with material that prosecutors would later place at the centre of their case.
Davis was arrested and charged in 2023, becoming the only person to face prosecution in connection with Shakur’s killing. The other three men prosecutors said were inside the Cadillac have since died.
The passage of time presented its own challenges. Evidence from the 1990s was limited compared with what investigators routinely collect today, and the prosecution’s case relied heavily on testimony, historical evidence and Davis’ own statements.
The trial featured testimony from 24 prosecution witnesses and three defence witnesses over nine days.
‘I WANT MY LITTLE BROTHER BACK’
For Tupac’s family, however, the legal outcome could never completely erase the pain of losing him.
His stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, had previously spoken about the emotional burden carried by the family after Tupac’s death and the years spent waiting for answers.
Recalling the aftermath of the shooting, Mopreme described rushing to Las Vegas and sitting beside his brother in hospital as the family hoped he would survive.
But he acknowledged that even a conviction could not provide the form of justice he wanted most.
“The justice I would like, I’ll never get. I want my little brother back,” Mopreme said.
Those words captured the complicated emotions surrounding the verdict: relief that the case had finally produced a conviction, but an enduring sense of loss that no courtroom decision could reverse.
THE LEGACY OF TUPAC SHAKUR
Tupac’s murder became one of the most consequential events in hip-hop history.
At the time of his death, he was among the most successful and influential artists in the world, known not only for his music but also for his work as an actor and activist.
His killing occurred amid intense tensions between rival factions associated with the West Coast and East Coast rap scenes, including the rivalry between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records.
The mystery surrounding his death subsequently generated years of speculation, conspiracy theories and competing accounts.
Now, almost 30 years after Shakur’s death, a jury has finally determined that Davis was criminally responsible for the murder.
Yet one major question remains unanswered: who actually fired the fatal shots?
Davis’ planned appeal means the legal battle is likely to continue, while the identity of the gunman remains officially unresolved.
For Tupac’s family and millions of fans, however, the guilty verdict represents the most significant development yet in a case that has haunted hip-hop for a generation.