Nevada police executed a search warrant Monday in the investigation of the murder of Tupac Shakur looking for laptops and other electronic devices at the home of a gang member who said he was in the car when the superstar rapper was fatally shot in Las Vegas in 1996, according to the warrant, exclusively obtained by NBC News on Thursday.
Duane Keith Davis, 60, also known as “Keefy D” or “Keffe D,” was the target of the warrant in Clark County, under which Las Vegas police also searched desktops and other electronic storage devices, such as thumb drives, CDs, external hard drives and audio recordings, the warrant said.
Davis, the warrant said, was affiliated with the South Side Compton Crips street gang, and he has been vocal about his involvement over the years.
Davis was one of four people who police say was in the suspect vehicle when Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. The suspect in the shooting, Orlando Anderson, Davis’ nephew, later died in a gang-related killing in Los Angeles. Davis, who was investigated by both Los Angeles and Las Vegas police, initially denied involvement but later gave police details about the case under a limited non-prosecution agreement. More recently, he has openly discussed his presence at the scene in interviews, articles and other media.
Investigators were also looking for “notes, writings, ledgers, and other handwritten or typed documents concerning television shows, documentaries, YouTube episodes, book manuscripts, and movies concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur,” the warrant said.
The search of Davis’ home in Henderson, about 15 miles south of Las Vegas, turned up a Pokeball USB drive, a black iPhone in a black case, a gold iPad with a broken screen, a gold iPad in a pink case and a purple Toshiba laptop, among other items, the warrant said.
Another Toshiba laptop, a Toshiba hard drive and an HP laptop were also listed in items obtained by investigators. The book “Compton Street Legend” — co-written by Keffe D — a Vibe magazine featuring Shakur, “purported marijuana” and tubs with photographs in them were also collected, the warrant said.
Police confirmed in a statement Tuesday that the search warrant was served.
“We will have no further comment at this time,” the statement concluded.
Shakur, 25, died Sept. 13, 1996. His slaying has remained unsolved.
While he has been gone for more than 25 years, he is arguably as famous and relevant now as he was when he died.
The Oakland, California, City Council this year voted to rename part of MacArthur Boulevard, a main thoroughfare, in his honor.
“Tupac knew deep down that he was always meant for something great,” his sister Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur said last month at a ceremony adding her late brother’s star to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “And as his little sister, I had the privilege to watch that greatness unfold.”
Shakur is not only considered hip-hop royalty; his musical influence has elevated him in death to the status of a legendary artist.
He is considered among the most influential and versatile rappers of all time. Shakur, a six-time Grammy nominee, has had five No. 1 albums: 1995’s “Me Against the World” and 1996’s “All Eyez on Me” and three posthumous releases: 1996’s “The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory,” which was recorded under the name Makaveli, 2001’s “Until the End of Time” and 2004’s “Loyal to the Game.”
Shakur has sold 33 million albums — 41 million when track sale and streaming equivalents are included, according to the entertainment data company Luminate. His on-demand video and audio streams total 10.1 billion.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
