Newly convicted Duane "Keffe D" Davis is maintaining his innocence after receiving a verdict that could keep him locked up for the rest of his life.
Four days after a Las Vegas jury convicted him in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, Davis spoke to The Hollywood Reporter from inside the Clark County Detention Center where he said, "I'm innocent, man. They got an innocent man sitting in jail."
The jury returned its verdict on Sept. 1 after deliberating for less than three hours, capping a weeks-long trial in which 24 prosecution witnesses and 3 defense witnesses testified over nine days. Davis, 63, was found guilty of murder with a deadly weapon with intent to promote, further, or assist a criminal gang.
In the interview with THR, Davis criticized the witnesses who took the stand against him. "Man, they lied about me so much. I don't even know where to begin. All those cops in there was lying like a motherfucker. The prosecutors were lying about me. I'm a good man, man. I'm a good person. I'm not no fucking killer,” he said.
He also disputed the core of the prosecution's timeline, claiming he was nowhere near Las Vegas the night of the shooting.
“After the [Mike Tyson] fight, I went to a bar by UCLA with my roommate. Then I went home the next morning, ate breakfast with my kids and my daughters and my son. And, shit, the next day, my Colombian plug called me and told me to come meet him,” Davis claimed.
“So I got in the truck with him, and he showed me the newspaper and [it] said ‘Keffe D’s nephew.’ That was what Reggie Wright had told [them]. That Keffe D’s nephew was behind it. That’s me, you know? Why the fuck would you use my name? I got five brothers. He could have said Kevin’s nephew, or Craig’s nephew, but he was wilding. But he used my name. They wanted to chop the head off the snake,” Davis added.
Prosecutors painted a different picture at trial, arguing Davis was not criminally responsible for pulling the trigger but rather for supplying the weapon and ordering the attack. Chief Deputy DA Binu Palal contended that Davis acquired a gun and "went hunting" for Shakur and Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight. During the trial, per CBS News, Palal told jurors: "When you have the shot caller sitting shotgun when shots are fired, there's no doubt he's responsible."
When asked if he wanted to say anything to Shakur’s family, Davis declined, saying, “No, I ain’t got nothing to say to them. I didn’t like the way they was looking at me – like they was ready to beat me up.” He also alleged Shakur’s family was allowed inside a back room where the jury was held.
The topic of Diddy also came up, as Davis confirmed he asked for the music mogul to pay for his attorney fees. “I couldn’t get a hold of him,” he said. “I tried to get Dr. Dre to pay too, but I couldn’t reach him. He never would’ve met Suge if not for me.” Davis also alleges Suge knows the “truth” and could verify he was not in the car. He also has not given up hope on getting support from Diddy, pleading, “Help me out in here. Look out for my family. Look out for my kids and my family.”
Davis faces a minimum of 40 years. Sentencing is set for Oct. 13 before District Judge Carly Kierny.
