Yahoo News Tupac Shakur's sister, friend Jada Pinkett Smith react to shooting suspect arrest: 'A pivotal moment'
Tupac Shakur's sister Sekyiwa "Set" Shakur and Jada Pinkett Smith, who was his close friend, are speaking out after Duane "Keffe D" Davis was arrested Friday in connection to the 1996 drive-by shooting of the legendary rapper.
"This is no doubt a pivotal moment," Shakur, who is the president of the Tupac Shakur Foundation, wrote on Instagram. "The silence of the past 27 years surrounding this case has spoken loudly in our community. It's important to me that the world, the country, the justice system, and our people acknowledge the gravity of the passing of this man, my brother, my mother's son, my father's son. His life and death matters, and should not go unsolved or unrecognized, so, yes, today is a victory, but I will reserve judgement until all the facts and legal proceedings are complete."
She continued, "There have been multiple hands involved and there remains so much surrounding the life and death of my brother Tupac and our Shakur family overall. "We are seeking real justice, on all fronts."
Pinkett Smith, who befriended Tupac in high school, also weighed in on the development on her Instagram Story, writing, "Now I hope we can get some answers and have some closure. R.I.P. Pac."
Jada Pinkett Smith/Instagram Jada Pinkett Smith's Instagram Story
Duane "Keffe D" Davis, the last living suspect in Tupac's death, was arrested by Las Vegas police and subsequently indicted and charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon by a Nevada grand jury, per the Associated Press. At a news conference on Friday, the outlet reported that Las Vegas Police homicide Lieut. Jason Johansson described Davis as the "shot caller for this group of individuals that committed this crime" and claimed that "he orchestrated the plan that was carried out."
The arrest comes two months after Las Vegas police raided Davis' home in the nearby Nevada city of Henderson. There, investigators discovered a USB drive; an iPhone; several tablets and laptops; a hard drive; "purported marijuana"; two black tubs of photographs; a copy of Davis' 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend; and an issue of Vibe magazine that featured Shakur, according to a search warrant.
Shakur was shot repeatedly while sitting in a black BMV stopped at a red light near the Las Vegas on Strip Sept. 7, 1996. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died from his wounds six days later at the age of 25. In the years since, the Grammy-nominated rapper's unsolved murder has continued to linger in popular culture — alongside the death of his rap rival Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G. — and has spawned several documentaries and television shows like 2018's Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty, Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Sekyiwa Shakur; Tupac Shakur; Jada Pinkett Smith
In Compton Street Legend, Davis confirmed that he was in the Cadillac from which someone fatally shot at Shakur's BMW, per the AP. By doing so, retired LAPD Det. Greg Kading told the outlet, Davis had "put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy" and given law enforcement the "the ammunition and leverage to move forward" with the case against him. There is no statute of limitations when it comes to murder in Nevada.
"It's so long overdue," Kading said. "People have been yearning for him to be arrested for a long time. It's never been unsolved in our minds. It's been unprosecuted."
Although his music career was brief, Tupac is considered one of the most influential hip-hop artists of all time. In addition to earning six Grammy nominations and releasing four No. 1 albums, he had starring roles in films like Juice and Poetic Justice. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this year.
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