E.D.I. Mean of the Outlawz, speaks out after Duane “Keefe D” Davis is found guilty of Tupac’s 1996 murder.
E.D.I. Mean of the Outlawz testified in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, and now he is speaking about the guilty verdict against Duane “Keefe D” Davis.
The jury found Davis guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon on Monday after less than three hours of deliberation, marking the first conviction in a case that gripped Hip-Hop fans for nearly 30 years.
“I breathed a sigh of relief,” E.D.I. Mean told Fox 11 about the verdict. “His family and millions of fans around the world have been waiting on this for about 30 years now. It’s almost 30 years coming up in in a week from today.”
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E.D.I. Mean was in the car behind Tupac and Suge Knight the night of the September 7, 1996, drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
He was forced to testify after being subpoenaed by the district attorney, something he initially resisted.
The jury’s quick decision shocked E.D.I. Mean. He expected a hung jury or not guilty verdict, but the speed of the guilty verdict told him something important.
“That the jury believed him in all those times that you know, he took it upon himself to admit to committing this crime and um telling the story in detail,” E.D.I. Mean explained.
Testifying in court was emotionally difficult for E.D.I. Mean. He had to relive the trauma of that night and watch Tupac’s family members cry in the courtroom.
“It was bittersweet so to speak that we all have to be here 30 years later. His sister sitting to the left of me you know, still in tears. I watched his mother cry tears for years about losing her only son and unfortunately she’s no longer with us to even have this experience. So, it was very bittersweet,” E.D.I. Mean said. “The whole trial was tough to relive. Some of the graphic details of how Tupac was taken from us and the brashness of it all and you know, the senselessness.”
During his testimony, E.D.I. Mean described the shooting. He saw a gun come out the window of another car that pulled up and started shooting at Knight and Tupac.
He didn’t see the shooter’s face, only silhouettes. Security guard Frank Alexander was driving that night and tried to get to Tupac and Suge to assess the damage.
It was chaotic.
After the shooting, Tupac spoke to E.D.I. Mean. Tupac was warning him about a police officer who had a shotgun pointed at E.D.I. Mean’s head.
“It’s just indicative of who he was. The type of brother, friend, comrade, you know, he was always looking out for us in more ways than one. Tupac had one of the most generous hearts and spirits of any human being I’ve ever known. And that’s not hyperbole. That’s not me exaggerating. That’s absolutely who he was in his essence.”
