Los Angeles, United States, Sept. 29 (EFE).- Las Vegas police arrested on Friday a suspect in the murder of hip hop legend Tupac Shakur, which remained unsolved for 27 years.
Tupac Amaru Shakur, or 2pac, was an American rapper born in New York in 1971, widely considered one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time for his politically conscious lyrics that addressed social inequality.
The “California Love” hitmaker was killed at the age of 25 on Sept. 13, 1996, after leaving a boxing match at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas when he was shot multiple times from a passing vehicle.
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 60, a known witness of the murder, was arrested and indicted on Friday in Las Vegas.
The long awaited case
Davis had previously said in interviews, including a 2018 Netflix documentary and his 2019 personal memoir, that he was the front-seat passenger in the Cadillac from which the fatal shots were fired.
After his arrest, a grand jury that had been sitting on the case for several months indicted him in the killing, prosecutors announced.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo called Davis the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur.
After years of no progress in the case, Las Vegas police searched the home of Davis’ wife, Paula Clemons, in a Las Vegas suburb last July. Clemons had repeatedly claimed that her nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, a known rival of Shakur’s, was involved in the artist’s murder.
Anderson repeatedly denied responsibility for the murder at the time and died two years after Shakur’s death in a gang shooting. Davis has said that Anderson was one of two people in the backseat of the car at the time of the murder, but declined to name the perpetrator.
Las Vegas police have claimed in the past that despite the large number of witnesses, the investigation had stalled due to a lack of cooperation from them.
Tupac’s legend
Since his murder, Tupac’s legend has grown exponentially, making him an emblem of American hip-hop. His death has also given rise to conspiracy theories.
Shakur was born on June 16, 1971 in New York, grew up in poverty and violence of the streets.
His parents and other close family members were political activists and members of the Black Panther Party. While pregnant with him, his mother, Afeni Shakur, was tried and acquitted as part of the Panther 21 criminal trial.
Born Lesane Parish Crooks, when he was still a baby his parents renamed him Tupac Amaru Shakur in honor of Túpac Amaru II, the descendant of the last Inca ruler who rebelled against Spanish rule.
In his teenage years, his mother moved them to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he would become one of the leading exponents of West Coast hip-hop during the East Coast-West Coast rivalry that defined the hip-hop scene in the 1990s.
Tupac’s music was characterized by the gangsta style, a rap trend that aimed to portray the misery, violence and racism of the ghettos, but according to his critics, glorified the life of criminals.EFE
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