Key Takeaways

• Judge Carli Kierny sentenced Duane “Keffe D” Davis to 40 years to life for first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon.
• During the sentencing, Tupac Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur, recalled that he contributed $50 a month to the household where she lived.
• Tupac’s stepbrother, Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, asked for the longest possible sentence, noting that the rapper never saw his nieces and nephews grow up.

Behind Tupac Shakur's legendary music career was a young man who made sure the people around him were taken care of. His family shared just how far that generosity reached during an emotional sentencing hearing on Tuesday (Oct. 13).

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison by Judge Carli Kierny for first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon in connection with the Hip Hop icon’s 1996 killing in Las Vegas, according to reports.

During the sentencing hearing, Tupac's sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, and stepbrother, Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, reminded the courtroom of the brother they lost and the future he never got to experience.

Sekyiwa Shakur says Tupac supported at least 17 families early in his career

During her victim impact statement, Sekyiwa described how her brother financially supported relatives and others long before the peak of his success. “He was paying all of the bills, all of the rent, all of the food, clothes for at least — I’ve counted them — 17 different families at the age of 25, and he had started that when he was 17, 18… when he began his career,” she said, according to footage shared by legal affairs journalist Meghann Cuniff.

The 51-year-old also recalled how Tupac regularly sent money while she attended school in New York. “When I was in New York going to school, [living] separate lives, he sent what he could every single month. He sent me, my aunt $50 a month in the beginning, just to contribute to the household that his sister was living in. To me, that's an amazing example of a 20-year-old… of a 19-year-old,” she continued.

The loss extended far beyond financial support. Sekyiwa described the emotional toll his death took on her relatives, including the men who were with him that night. “My son was 6 months when he died,” she shared. “His father, his uncles were in that car procession that night. My younger cousins [were] in that car procession that night… My little brother was in a car procession that night, and none of these men in my family were the same again.”

She added, “That day, the loss of Tupac for a long time crippled my entire family emotionally and mentally. I’ve been hospitalized multiple times for depression, suicidal ideation, and trauma/PTSD... I finally had a child, which meant my son wouldn’t have had to grow up the way the other men in my family did without having an elder man to support them and guide them, and that was taken away.”

Tupac’s stepbrother recalls missed family milestones and requests the maximum sentence for Keffe D

Maurice, who grew up alongside Tupac and performed with him in THUG LIFE and the Outlaw Immortalz, also addressed the court. “The impact from my brother’s murder has been devastating, heartbreaking, and sad for me, my family, and the nation of Pac fans and loved ones. Pac didn’t get a chance to have any kids. Pac didn’t see his nieces and nephews grow up, and Pac didn't have a trial. All Pac got was a death sentence. So the longest possible, Your Honor. Thank you,” he told Kierny, according to Cuniff's footage.

Keffe D was convicted and sentenced decades after Tupac's murder

The “California Love” hitmaker was shot on Sept. 7, 1996, while riding with Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight following an altercation involving Davis' nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, at the MGM Grand. The rapper died six days later at 25.

Prosecutors argued that Davis supplied the weapon and directed the attack, although he was not accused of firing the fatal shots. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder on Aug. 31. Davis declined to address the court when given the opportunity. He remains the only person convicted in the killing, per NBC News.

For Tupac's family, the sentencing marked a major development in a case that had remained unresolved for decades, though their statements made clear that no prison term could restore the years they lost with him.