Closure is fleeting, particularly in the realm of murder and death. The hip-hop community was reminded of that reality when Duane “Keffe D” Davis was found guilty for his role in the Sept. 13, 1996, drive-by shooting of rap icon Tupac Shakur. Davis was initially arrested in Las Vegas and charged with Shakur’s murder in 2023 after repeatedly detailing his involvement in Shakur’s death in interviews with law enforcement, media, and journalists across more than a dozen years. The reputed South Side Compton Crips gang leader even admitted to passing the murder weapon to fellow South Side member Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, the alleged gunman in the shooting and Davis’ nephew.
Revenge for the infamous Shakur-led assault of Anderson at the MGM Grand resort following Mike Tyson’s Sept. 7, 1996, heavyweight title bout against Bruce Seldon has long been attributed as the motive behind the drive-by shooting on the Las Vegas Strip later that night, ultimately resulting in Shakur’s death. While conspiracy theories of Shakur’s murder being an assassination and him faking his death sparked debates and questions among the public for years, Davis’ brazen admissions — first heard by federal detectives under a proffer agreement and later in interviews with media outlets including VladTV and The Art of Dialogue — drew a clearer picture of the circumstances behind Tupac’s death.
The 63-year-old’s conviction has brought a resolution to one of the most discussed and analyzed criminal cases in music history. Terrence “Bubble Up” Brown, DeAndre Smith, and Anderson — the three other men in the vehicle with Davis at the time of the shooting — have all passed away, leaving Davis to bear the brunt of the legal ramifications of their actions. On the surface, Davis’ guilty verdict and pending sentence is nothing short of poetic justice. It comes just 30 years shy of the shooting’s date and Tupac’s death, a fitting closing to a chapter, regardless of how bittersweet. Closure brings information and context, but it lacks finality. The wound remains. Closure doesn’t dig up graves or open caskets.
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Davis’ guilty verdict may assuage old wounds, but it opens another, as it has brought many to ponder why the case of late rapper Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace’s murder has yet to receive a similar breakthrough. Wallace, the hip-hop superstar who soared to fame with his 1994 debut album Ready to Die and collaborations with Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, and Mary J. Blige, was gunned down in Los Angeles in 1997, several months after Shakur’s own death. A Brooklyn native and flagship artist of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Records, Wallace befriended Shakur before their brotherhood dissolved following the 1994 shooting and robbery of Shakur at Quad Studios in New York City, with Shakur accusing Wallace of having knowledge of the planned attack and failing to inform him. Shakur taunted Wallace in the media and in songs, most famously on the incendiary 1996 diss track “Hit ‘Em Up.” Despite Wallace disputing Shakur’s accusations and refusing to slight or engage with Shakur directly, Wallace’s 1995 single, “Who Shot Ya?” would be viewed by many and Shakur as a mockery of his 1994 shooting. The dispute is widely seen as the catalyst for hip-hop’s “East Coast vs. West Coast” era, which climaxed with each artist’s respective deaths.
Given their former friendship, war of words, iconic stature, legacies, and both being slain before their time, Shakur and Wallace’s murder cases have remained intertwined for decades. But when you look at the investigations in both cases, the details and evidence diverge. Wallace, who was gunned down on March 9, 1997, outside a VIBE Magazine afterparty at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, has a case that seems to have stalled. As opposed to suspects and witnesses linked to Shakur’s murder — many of whom have spoken at length and on record regarding incidents preceding the shooting, the actual crime, and the aftermath — those on Wallace’s side who have given their accounts of his murder have cloudy memories regarding specific details and chain of events.
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The biggest factor that muddies the waters in Wallace’s murder case isn’t the lack of a plausible motive, but rather how to prove it and the identities beyond the actual participants, beyond the shadow of a doubt. Unlike Pac, where conspiracies behind his death were long du jour, investigators and fans of Wallace have largely concluded that one of two central figures in the case may hold keys that unlock the answers regarding Wallace’s passing: Marion “Suge” Knight and Sean “Diddy” Combs. The most popular theory involving Knight is that he allegedly contracted the murder of Wallace as retribution on behalf of Shakur and himself, for reasons that stemmed from eerily similar circumstances.
During Wallace and Shakur’s own rift, Knight and Combs’ own cold war simmered and ran even hotter than many initially believed. Knight’s infamous subliminal diss towards Combs and Bad Boy Records at the 1995 Source Awards notwithstanding, the Death Row Records founder would allegedly blame Combs and his entourage for the 1995 murder of longtime friend and Death Row member Jake “Big Jake” Robles in Atlanta outside of The Platinum House nightclub. Combs’ associates Anthony “Wolf” Jones and Jason Brown have been named as potential suspects in Robles’ death, which Knight held against Combs and Bad Boy in the years after.
Another potential motive ties back to Combs’ relationship with Davis and the Southside Crips, who Davis claimed protected Combs, Wallace, and Bad Boy members during their trips on the West Coast. At the time, Combs denied ever employing gang members as part of his and his label’s security detail. Former L.A. Times reporter Chuck Phillips even made the explosive claim that Combs put a $1 million bounty on Shakur in an alleged deal facilitated by Eric “Von Zip” Martin, a Harlem street figure and Combs’ longtime associate who allegedly ran a narcotics trafficking operation with Davis and the South Side Crips.
While Combs has vehemently refuted claims of his involvement in Shakur’s or Wallace’s death, Davis has alleged that the bounty was offered by Combs, but that Martin collected the alleged payout and that he and the South Side Crips were never compensated for Shakur’s murder. Martin, the supposed middleman in the alleged contract killing, passed away in 2012. Combs reportedly spoke and attended Martin’s funeral, where he credited Martin with “saving his life.” When pressed by law enforcement, Wallace’s close friends, including his wife, R&B star Faith Evans, and best friend, Damien “D-Roc” Butler, appeared unforthcoming about details concerning Martin, despite Martin being the supposed godfather of Biggie and Faith’s son, CJ Wallace, and listed in the liner notes of Biggie’s posthumous Life After Death album as “Uncle Zip (The Spiritual Advisor).” Martin’s name also appears in the list of attendees for Biggie’s funeral, albeit under the alias Zip ‘Equan’ Williams.
The seemingly lone conspiracy theory regarding Wallace’s death — that Combs himself orchestrated his murder to prevent Wallace from leaving Bad Boy Records and launching his own record label — has remained as such for many, with no tangible proof or plausible evidence supporting it. Ironically, a similar claim was also made concerning Knight and Shakur; however, Davis’ admissions and conviction ultimately debunk that theory. Motive aside, closing Wallace’s murder case hinges on positively identifying the gunman responsible for pulling the trigger, as well as evidence to support it. Kevin Gaines, Rafael Perez, and David Mack, corrupt Los Angeles Police Department officers implicated in the notorious Rampart scandal, and Amir Muhammad, a longtime friend of Mack, have been floated as alleged gunmen in Wallace’s murder. Gaines would be killed just over a week after Wallace’s death in a Los Angeles shooting, and Perez, Mack, and Muhammad were never officially charged in the murder.
The other popular suspect in Wallace’s death is Wardell “Poochie” Fouse, a reputed gunman and associate of Knight, who is believed to have been compensated for the alleged hit. While an alleged paper trail involving Knight and his former girlfriend Theresa Swann raised speculation regarding the supposed arrangement, Fouse’s death in 2003 yielded yet another dead end in the case. Others believed capable of the crime, such as George “Ponytail” Williams, are also deceased, unable, and likely unwilling to share the true extent of their knowledge or involvement.
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That leaves Knight and Combs as the two men who could potentially provide the clues, facts, assumptions, and hunches to end the quest to bring Wallace’s killer to justice. Both are currently in prison, with Knight serving a 28-year sentence after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter, and Combs on a 50-month sentence after being found guilty on two counts of transporting people across state lines for prostitution. Combs is currently scheduled to be released from federal prison on February 20, 2028, whereas Knight will be eligible for parole in October 2034. Both men have maintained their innocence in both deaths for decades; unless other witnesses or evidence emerge, the justice experienced by Shakur’s family may never be felt by Wallace’s loved ones.
This story was originally published on VIBE.
