Tupac Shakur timeline: Key events in rapper's murder investigation

Tupac died six days after a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996.

September 29, 2023, 4:26 PM

Nearly three decades after rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, an arrest has been made in the case.

The cold case saw a breakthrough in recent months, with police conducting a search of a house in the Las Vegas area on July 17. The evidence in the case was subsequently presented to a Clark County grand jury, leading to an indictment on Sept. 28.

Here's a look at the investigation into Tupac's death.

Tupac Shakur, Nov. 13, 1994.
Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Nov. 30, 1994

Two years before the shooting that would claim his life, Tupac is shot five times during a robbery at Quad Studios in Times Square. In an interview with Vibe magazine in April 1995, he intimates producer Sean Combs and rapper Christopher Wallace, known as the Notorious B.I.G., who were at the studio, were aware it was a setup.

Sept. 7, 1996

Tupac is shot in a drive-by after leaving a boxing match at the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas strip. He was sitting in a black BMW sedan with Suge Knight, the head of his record label, when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside and a gunman opened fire, striking Tupac multiple times.

Sept. 13, 1996

Tupac dies from his injuries in the hospital at the age of 25.

A black BMW, riddled with bullet holes, is seen in a Las Vegas police impound lot. Rapper Tupac Shakur was shot while riding in the car driven by Death Row Records chairman Suge Knight, Sept. 8, 1996.
Lennox Mclendon/AP
The intersection of Harmon and Las Vegas Blvd., in Las Vegas, Sept. 8, 1996, where Tupac Shakur and Death Row Records Chairman Marion "Suge" Knight were stopped and transported to the University Medical Center-Trauma unit after being shot.
Jack Dempsey/AP

Nov. 10, 1996

A witness to the drive-by is killed. Yafeu Fula, aka Yaki Kadafi, is fatally shot at an apartment building in New Jersey. He was a member of Tupac's entourage and was seated in the car behind the rapper's when the shooting occurred, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. "It just kind of adds to our frustration of this whole investigation," a homicide investigator for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told the LA Times.

March 9, 1997

The Notorious B.I.G. is shot and killed in Los Angeles. That shooting, which is widely believed to have been connected to Tupac's murder, remains unsolved.

September 1997

Orlando Anderson, a Los Angeles gang member, files a lawsuit against Tupac's estate for alleged damages he suffered in a brawl with the rapper at the MGM Grand just hours before the deadly drive-by, the LA Times reported at the time.

Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, subsequently files a wrongful-death lawsuit against Anderson, alleging that he fatally shot her son, the LA Times reported.

May 29, 1998

Anderson is shot and killed in a gang-related shooting in Los Angeles County. He was never charged in Tupac's murder and had denied any involvement.

Memorials to Tupac Shakur stand near the intersection where he was fatally shot in Las Vegas, July 18, 2023.
KTNV

February 2018

Netflix begins airing "Unsolved: The Tupac and Biggie Murders," a limited series that chronicled investigations by two LAPD detectives into the killings of the rappers. The Tupac probe gained new momentum following the release of the series, the law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News.

April 2019

Duane Keith Davis, aka Keffe D, who has said he is one of two living eyewitnesses to the shooting, along with Knight, releases the book "Compton Street Legend." Detectives also re-engaged with the Tupac case following the release of the book, the official told ABC News.

July 17, 2023

Las Vegas police conduct a court-authorized search of Davis' residence in Henderson, Nevada, in connection with the Tupac homicide investigation. Among the items seized by investigators are computers, hard drives and magazine articles about Tupac and his death, the official said.

Sept. 28, 2023

Davis is indicted by a Clark County grand jury on one count of open murder with use of a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement, according to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson. He is the only living suspect in the homicide investigation, authorities said.

Booking photo of Duane Davis.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Sept. 29, 2023

Davis is arrested on the murder charge while on a walk near his home, a senior law enforcement official confirmed to ABC News.

ABC News' Josh Margolin and Alex Stone contributed to this report.