The man found guilty of the murder of Tupac Shakur has insisted he is innocent.
The hip-hop icon, also known by his stage name 2Pac, was shot and killed in September 1996 when he was just 25, and last week, a jury deliberated for just three hours before reaching a verdict in the murder trial of Duane 'Keffe D' Davis.
However, Davis is insisting he is innocent and claims he will be freed after an “appeal”.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: “I ain’t worried. I’m getting out on an appeal. We already filed it before the trial even started. They violated my civil rights!
“When my old attorney, Edi Faal first heard about this case, he told me, you’re going to be a rich man after it’s over. He told me that you might have to go to jail for two or three years because of it, but … this is just local court.”
Davis, who pleaded not guilty, could face life in prison without parole following his conviction, with sentencing set for October 13.
The 63-year-old former gang boss has been on trial in Las Vegas since August 17, having been accused of orchestrating Shakur's death. He was found guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
Davis also claimed he tried to get Sean Combs and Dr Dre to pay for his attorneys but he was unsuccessful.
He said: “I was trying to get [Sean Combs] to pay. His daughters go to a school where I knew the football coach and athletic director, so I told him to tell him to at least come and help me out. But I couldn’t get a hold of him. I tried to get Dr. Dre to pay too, but I couldn’t reach him. He never would’ve met Suge [Knight] if not for me.”
When asked what he would like to tell the world, Davis said: “I’m innocent, man. They got an innocent man sitting in jail. I’ve got two grandsons that are going to the pros in football. They All-Americans - one of them is in high school. He has 25 scholarship offers, and the other one is in college. And when they get their millions, they’re coming to get me out of here.”
Davis was arrested and charged with murder back in 2023, making him the only person ever arrested in connection with the incident.
He has previously given multiple interviews along with his 2019 memoir, confessing to his role in the shooting of Tupac and claims he rode in the car and handed nephew Orlando Anderson the murder weapon, before he fired the fatal shots that killed the rapper.
He claimed in his memoir that Tupac appeared to be reaching for a weapon before the execution, but his side fired first, essentially killing the rapper.
In 2019, Davis wrote in his memoir Compton Street Legend that he provided the gun used in the killing.
While defence attorneys argued that his book is fictional, a judge ruled that the memoir could be introduced in court.
Acclaimed rap star Shakur sold more than 75 million records worldwide and at the time of his death had been embroiled in an infamous rivalry with fellow rapper Biggie Smalls, who himself was shot and killed six months later in March 1997.