2Pac’s murder investigation has unexpectedly kicked back into life this month, and now bullets found at Duane “Keefe D” Davis’ home are to be tested by forensic experts to determine whether they are linked to the rap icon’s death.
According to the Daily Mirror, Las Vegas police recovered several .40 caliber bullets while executing a search warrant at the Henderson, Nevada residence belonging to Keefe D’s wife, Paula Clemons, last week.
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A former member of the South Side Compton Crips, Keefe D is the uncle of ‘Pac’s alleged killer, Orlando Anderson, and has admitted on more than one occasion to playing a role in the rapper’s 1996 murder.
A Vegas police source said the bullets will undergo forensic testing “to determine if they have any link to the bullets found in 2Pac’s body or on the scene of the homicide.”
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Homicide detectives have kept forensic evidence from ‘Pac’s death scene and body, including bullets and clothing, in secure storage for over 25 years. They also have full-scale laboratory analysis of shells, bullets and powder from the crime scene.
“Microfibers or residues from the weapon or the bullet could prove to be a link,” the source added. “There is no information yet on the history of the bullets, how old they are or their significance. And it will take some time to assess how the bullets play a role in this case.”
The source said that the search warrant was executed because “investigators feel they can assemble enough information that could lead to an arrest or indictment” in the long-unsolved case. However, they conceded that “it is a long shot that the bullets will be the ones from 1996.”
A .40 caliber Glock pistol that was believed to have been used to kill 2Pac was found in the garden of a Compton home back in 1998. An initial ballistics test conducted by the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) in 2006 flagged it as a possible match to the shooting.
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However, a second ballistics test done by Las Vegas police determined it was not a match for ‘Pac’s case, and so it was sent back to the ATF, according to TMZ. After spending years in storage, the weapon was later destroyed by the ATF, per standard procedure.
Las Vegas police also seized various other items at Keefe D’s home during their searc, including computers, hard drives and photos from the 1990s of individuals who might have been connected to people directly or indirectly involved in the shooting
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The evidence will be presented to a Las Vegas grand jury to determine whether an indictment will be brought forward. Further search warrants may also be executed in the next few weeks.
While no arrests have ever been made over 2Pac’s murder, Orlando Anderson — a Compton crip who was killed in an unrelated gang shooting in 1998 — was the prime suspect in the case.
Anderson got into an altercation with the All Eyez On Me rapper in the lobby of the MGM Grand in Vegas on the night of September 7, 1996. The fight stemmed from allegations that he had stolen the chain of a Death Row affiliate months earlier.
Hours later, a white Cadillac pulled up alongside 2Pac and Suge Knight near the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane and opened fire, striking the 25-year-old rapper multiple times. He died six days later in hospital due to his injuries.
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According to the Daily Mirror, Keefe D detailed the shooting in vivid detail in his 2019 book Compton Street Legend, in which he confessed to being in the car with Anderson and two others and handing his nephew the gun.
“Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat,” he wrote. “It was the first and only time in my life that I could relate to the police command ‘Keep your hands where I can see them.’ Instead, ‘Pac pulled out a straw, and that’s when the fireworks started. One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”
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He continued: “The first shot skinned Suge in the head. I thought the motherfucker was dead. I heard stories that Suge supposedly used Tupac as a shield when the bullets started flying. But that’s some bullshit. Suge was already wounded. As the rounds continued flying, I ducked down so I wouldn’t get hit. When the shooting stopped, we boned out.”
