Arrested and charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur - a loosening break in the investigation (in 120 characters)

The man linked to the death of Tupac Shakur has been arrested and charged with murder with a deadly weapon, a surprising breakthrough in a case that has been closely investigated since the rap icon was killed in a Las Vegas plaza in 1996.

Nevada police detained Dwayne Keith "Keef D" Davis today (Sept. 29) and a grand jury indicted him in Shakur's murder, the Associated Press reports.

Davis, who has long been known to investigators, admitted in interviews and in his 2019 memoir, "The Legend of Compton," that he was in the Cadillac with Shakur's killer. He became the first person arrested with a direct link to the murder.

The prosecutor announced in court today that Davis is also charged with intent to aid, promote or assist a criminal gang.

The arrest and indictment of Davis follows a search conducted in July in Henderson, Nevada, in connection with an ongoing investigation. (The house police searched belongs to Davis' wife.) Las Vegas police have long maintained that the case was hampered by a lack of cooperation from witnesses, although independent investigations have uncovered much more information than what law enforcement has uncovered.

The case began in May 1996 when Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson allegedly assaulted Travon "Trey" Lane, an associate of Death Row Records boss Suge Knight, at a shoe store. On Sept. 7, after a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Lane told Shakur he saw Anderson in the lobby. Shakur then led the attack on Anderson, which was monitored by CCTV cameras. He returned to his room at the Luxor Hotel before heading with Knight to Club 662, where he was scheduled to perform at a charity event.

On the way, a white Cadillac pulled up to the side of Shakur's car. The gunman rolled down the rear window of the Cadillac's back seat and fired a .40 S&W caliber Glock 22 pistol, hitting Shakur four times. One bullet hit Shakur's right lung, and the musician was taken to Southern Nevada University Medical Center for treatment. He died six days after his right lung was removed, causing respiratory arrest and a heart attack.

Anderson was arrested in a "gang raid" a month later. Investigators interviewed Anderson and identified him as the man in the videotape, but did not charge or arrest him, believing he could not have killed Shakur. Lt. Larry Spinoza told reporters, "At this time, Orlando Anderson is not a suspect in the murder of Tupac Shakur. "

Two months after the shooting, in November 1996, Yaki Kadafi - originally from New Jersey and a member of Shakur's band Outlawz - was killed in an apartment complex in Irvington, New Jersey. Kadafi, who is known for his participation in the diss track "Hit 'Em Up," was riding in the car behind Shakur and witnessed the shooting. He initially refused to cooperate with police, but later said he might be able to identify the attackers. However, his interrogation never took place as he died.

Member of the Outlawz group E.D.I. Min and Shakur's security guard Frank Alexander told the Los Angeles Times in March 1997 that they were in the car directly behind Shakur at the time of the murder.

Anderson, who was briefly a suspect but was never arrested or charged, has sued Shakur's estate, claiming he suffered physical injuries and serious emotional and mental trauma from the attack at the MGM Grand. A few days later, Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, frustrated at the lack of progress on the murder, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Anderson. Her lawyer Richard Fishbein said: "The Las Vegas police are as interested in investigating this crime as the man in the moon.... I believe I can't do any worse than they can." Anderson was shot and killed in a shootout at a car wash in Compton, California, in May 1998, 18 months after Shakur's murder.

In September 2002, Chuck Phillips of the Los Angeles Times published an article with new details about the case. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Compton Community Gang Unit reportedly received multiple clues pointing to the involvement of the Crips and "Baby Lane," Anderson's nickname, in Shakur's murder. A week later, Compton's department informed Las Vegas police that they believed the Southside Crips gang was responsible for the murder and that Anderson was the shooter.

In 2009, Dwayne "Keef D." Davis, today's arrestee, was questioned by the LAPD in connection with the murder of Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace. Davis was a member of the Crips faction and Anderson's uncle. He admitted to being involved in Shakur's 1996 murder. In a taped interview, Davis pointed to Anderson as the shooter, telling police, "[Anderson] leaned over and rolled down the window and fired a shot." He said his marksmanship wasn't good enough, so he handed the gun to Anderson and the latter fired the shots, killing Shakur.

The interrogation was done under a procedure where people are allowed to testify about a crime and that testimony cannot be used against them in court. In November 2019, Greg Kaeding, a former LAPD detective who worked on the Notorious B.I.G. murder case, confirmed to CBS News Los Angeles that Davis admitted to his involvement in Shakur's murder when he was interviewed in connection with his investigation into the Notorious B.I.G. murder case.

A former Death Row security guard James "Mob James" McDonald said in April 2017 that he saw Anderson and other members of the Southside Crips arrive at Club 662 in a white Cadillac before the shooting. In the documentary Unsolved, which aired on USA Network in February 2018, Davis said he was in the front passenger seat of the car Shakur's killer was in when the shooting occurred, but he declined to name the shooter. He claimed that the car was driven by Terrence "T-Brown" Brown, with Anderson and Deandra "Dre" Smith in the back seat, and that the shooter was in the back seat. By then, all three men had died.