The actress Jada Pinkett Smith is speaking out about how she feels about the arrest of a suspect in relation with the killing of Tupac Shakur in 1996.
In a message that she published on her Instagram Story after hearing the news that the suspect had been arrested on Friday, Smith, who is 52 years old, expressed her need for “closure” over the murder of Shakur, with whom she had maintained a close association for many years.
In light of the arrest, Smith penned the following response: “Now I hope that we can get some answers and have some closure.” “R.I.P. Pac,” she said, adding a dove emoji at the end of her message.
The Associated Press and ABC News both reported on Friday that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had detained Duane “Keffe D” Davis as a suspect in relation to the murder of Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed on September 13, 1996. Shakur’s death came about as a result of the incident. Since the crime took place 27 years ago, this arrest marks the first significant step forward in the investigation of the cold case.
The Associated Press reports that Davis was taken into custody early on Friday morning. The suspect who was apprehended was charged with one count of murder and received a gang enhancement for the crime. During a news conference held on Friday by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, he was referred to as the “on-ground, on-site commander” who “ordered the death” of Shakur, as reported by the Associated news (AP).
On September 7, 1996, while Tupac Shakur sat in a vehicle on his way to a nightclub in Las Vegas, he was shot four times by an assailant. The 25-year-old rapper, who was at the pinnacle of his popularity at the time, passed away on September 13 as a result of the injuries he sustained. Despite the widespread suspicion that he had been murdered, the investigation into the crime was eventually closed.
Smith has shared her thoughts in public on several occasions on the intimate friendship she had with Shakur, whom she has referred to as her “best friend.”
When they were both attending Baltimore School of the Arts in Maryland, they had their first encounter with one another. Pinkett Smith previously said in an interview that Will Smith would come up to her on the first day of work and present himself to her. “It was the first day and he came over to me and introduced himself,” she added. “It was clear from taking a look at him that he wasn’t the kind of cat that I would even like to deal with.”
“But as soon as he approached me, he was like a magnet,” she proceeded to say. When you finally gave him your whole attention, he had a way of drawing you in. And from that point forth, we got along swimmingly.”
Smith referred to Shakur as both her “brother” and a “father figure” during their conversation. She continued, her voice breaking with passion, “The kind of relationship that we had…you only get that once in a lifetime…”
Smith discussed her acquaintance with Shakur during an interview with Howard Stern in 2015. The conversation took place in 2015.
“Pac is unlike any other individual I’ve ever encountered in my life. She stated those words about Shakur, who was the son of the revolutionary and Black Panther Afeni Shakur Davis. “He had so much charisma,” she continued.
Smith said that she and Shakur had at one time tried to take their relationship further as they kissed; however, they both felt that it did not seem right and decided to abandon the idea. “Being older, I have more of an understanding of what that was between us,” Smith, who went on to marry Will Smith, added.
“When you have two young people who have very strong feelings for each other despite the fact that there was absolutely no physical chemistry between us,” she said.
After the first investigation into the murder of Assata Shakur was reopened earlier this summer, a new development in the case has emerged. On July 17, the police carried out a search warrant at a residence in Henderson, Nevada, that was associated with Davis.
According to the book Compton Street Legends, which was released in 2019, the suspect, who is now 60 years old, said that he is one of three “living eyewitnesses” to the murder of Tupac Shakur.