Duane Davis (gangster)

In 2002, the Los Angeles Times published a two-part series by reporter Chuck Philips titled "Who Killed Tupac Shakur?" based on a series that looked into the events leading to the crime. The series indicated that the shooting was carried out by a Compton gang called the South Side Crips to avenge the beating of one of its members by Shakur a few hours earlier. Orlando Anderson, the Crip whom Shakur had attacked, fired the fatal shots. Las Vegas police interviewed Anderson only once as a possible suspect. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting. The Los Angeles Times articles included reference to the cooperation of East Coast rappers including the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac's rival at the time, and New York criminals.[16][17]

The Notorious B.I.G. and Anderson denied a role in the murder. In support of this, Biggie's family produced computerized invoices showing that he was working in a New York recording studio the night of the drive-by shooting. His manager Wayne Barrow and fellow rapper James "Lil' Cease" Lloyd made public announcements denying Biggie had a role in the crime and stating that they were both with him in the recording studio on the night of the shooting.[18]

The New York Times called the evidence produced by Biggie's family "inconclusive", noting:

The pages purport to be three computer printouts from Daddy's House, indicating that Wallace was in the studio recording a song called Nasty Boy on the afternoon Shakur was shot. They indicate that Wallace wrote half the session, was In and out/sat around and laid down a ref, shorthand for a reference vocal, the equivalent of a first take. But nothing indicates when the documents were created. And Louis Alfred, the recording engineer listed on the sheets, said in an interview that he remembered recording the song with Wallace in a late-night session, not during the day. He could not recall the date of the session but said it was likely not the night Shakur was shot. We would have heard about it, Mr. Alfred said.[19]

Assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times Mark Duvoisin defended Philips' articles, stating they were based on police affidavits and court documents as well as interviews with investigators, witnesses to the crime and members of the South Side Crips. Duvoisin stated: "Philips' story has withstood all challenges to its accuracy, ... [and] remains the definitive account of the Shakur slaying."[20] The main thrust of Philips' articles, implicating Anderson and the Crips, was later corroborated by former LAPD Detective Greg Kading's 2011 book Murder Rap[21][22] and discussed in author Cathy Scott's book The Killing of Tupac Shakur.[23] Scott claimed Biggie was not involved with the murder of Tupac in a People magazine article, saying there was no evidence pointing to Biggie Smalls as a suspect.[24] Also, The New York Times wrote, "The Los Angeles Times articles did not offer any documentation to show that Wallace was in Las Vegas that night."[19]

In her 2002 book (with a new edition in 2014) The Killing of Tupac Shakur, Cathy Scott[23] reviews various theories, including the Suge Knight/Death Row theory of Tupac's murder, before stating, "Years after the primary investigations, it's still anyone's guess. No one was ever arrested but no one was ever ruled out as a suspect, either." She then wrote that one theory "transcends all the others, and implicates the white-record-company power brokers themselves", implicating the bosses of the Suge Knight label. In recent years, archived letters of her responses to readers show an evolution toward Anderson as a suspect and a dismissal of the Knight theory.[25]

On July 2, 2018, Davis confessed to having a role in the killing of Tupac Shakur after revealing he was dying of cancer.[27] He went on to say he was the passenger in the white Cadillac on the night of the incident. He refused to name the other suspects in the car but confirmed that the shooter was Orlando Anderson, his nephew, and that it was out of retaliation for getting jumped at the MGM Grand earlier and the $1 million bounty by Puff Daddy.

On September 29, 2023, Davis was taken into custody by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police in connection with the murder.[28][29][30] A house owned by his wife in nearby Henderson, Nevada, had been raided by police on July 17, 2023. Police documents stated that they were looking for items "concerning the murder of Tupac Shakur" in the raid.[31]