The key evidence in the case were Davis’ own words, in which he repeatedly and publicly acknowledged being inside the white Cadillac from where the deadly shots were fired.
In exchange for being shielded from criminal prosecution, he told authorities about his role in Shakur’s death during a secret 2008 police interview relating to the death of fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace, who was killed in a shooting just months after Shakur.
Davis elaborated further on his role in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, which led to publicity and media interviews.
But the book and interviews he offered elaborating on his role in Shakur’s killing voided a protective agreement he had established with authorities that had blocked any criminal charges from being filed. A judge then allowed his police interview to be used in the murder trial against him.
Shakur was 25 years old and at the height of his career as one of rap’s most influential voices at the time of his death. He has sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
For three decades, the investigation into his killing remained one of America’s most famous cold cases, spurring countless conspiracies – until the conviction of Davis last month.
Throughout the trial, Davis’ defence team tried to persuade jurors that his comments were fiction – bravado and exaggeration intended to sell books and make money.
Prosecutors argued that although Davis, a former leader of the South Side Compton Crips street gang, did not himself fire the gun, he ordered the shooting and supplied the gun that his nephew Orlando Anderson used to open fire.
Anderson died in an unrelated shooting in 1998, having denied involvement in the killing of Shakur.
