A criminal conviction in the murder of Tupac Shakur, the first since the rapper was shot to death in 1996, has stirred strong emotions among his fans. Duane “Keffe D” Davis, a former gang leader from California, was found guilty of murder on Monday for planning the fatal shooting. The case relied heavily on Davis’s own confessions, including details from his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend, where he described the events of September 7, 1996. Davis claimed he wanted to retaliate against Shakur after the rapper’s associates attacked his nephew in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas. For many fans, the conviction brought a mix of relief and sadness. Kelly Wilson, 48, from the Seattle area, who was a teenager when Shakur was killed at age 25, said the rapper had a deep connection with people and often spoke for those without a voice. His son, Julian Wilson, 22, drew a connection between Davis’s trial and a scene in Shakur’s 1996 music video Hail Mary, which features a man in prison lamenting being wrongly convicted. Julian noted the lyrics, “Revenge has a funny, funny way of settling the score,” which he felt echoed the outcome of the case. While Wilson called the guilty verdict “nice to have the final chapter written for the family and those that need that healing,” he also expressed that it was “long overdue.” He mentioned that others suspected of playing a larger role, like Davis’s nephew Orlando Anderson—who is believed to have pulled the trigger—have since died, leaving some questions unanswered. Casey Rain, a British musician and moderator for HitEmUp.com, a forum dedicated to Tupac Shakur, noted that in the years after the rapper’s death, many fans speculated about the circumstances. He said the conviction brings clarity, stating it’s no longer a “hip-hop folklore” story, but a real event in which a 25-year-old man was murdered. Rain also pointed out the irony that Davis’s own talkative nature helped solve the case, as he “wouldn’t shut up talking about it.” Davis is scheduled to be sentenced in October and faces a minimum of 40 years in prison. The case has brought a long-awaited resolution to one of the most high-profile unsolved murders in hip-hop history.