Jada Pinkett Smith Reacts to Tupac Shakur Suspect Arrest: 'Now I Hope We Can Get Some Answers'

The actress has repeatedly spoken publicly about the close friendship she had with the rapper before his murder in 1996.

Jada Pinkett Smith shares her reaction to the arrest of a suspect in Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder.

Smith, 52, said she hoped for “closure” in the death of Shakur – with whom she had a close friendship for many years – in a post on her Instagram Story, following news of the suspect’s arrest on Friday.

“Now I hope we can get some answers and some closure,” Smith wrote in response to the arrest. “RIP Pac,” she finished, adding a dove emoji.

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Jada Pinkett Smith Tupac Shakur

Smith is hoping for “closure” in Shakur’s death after the arrest of the suspect.

Jada Pinkett Smith/Instagram

On Friday, the Associated Press and ABC News reported that Las Vegas Metropolitan Police have arrested Duane “Keffe D” Davis as a suspect in the shooting death of Shakur, who died on September 13, 1996. The arrest is the first major development in the unsolved case since the incident occurred 27 years ago.

As AP reports, Davis was taken into custody on Friday morning. The arrested suspect is charged with one count of gang-enhanced murder. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department described him as the “commander on the ground” who “ordered the death” of Shakur at a press conference Friday, according to the AP.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot four times while sitting in a car on his way to a Las Vegas nightclub. The 25-year-old rapper was at the height of his success at the time and died of his injuries on September 13. Despite speculation about his murder, the case went cold soon after.

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Jada Pinkett Smith Tupac Shakur

Smith and Shakur developed a close friendship after meeting in high school.

Mychal Watts/WireImage

Jada Pinkett Smith shares a clip of her and Tupac doing a ‘horrible job’ to a Will Smith song

Smith has spoken publicly many times about her close relationship with Shakur – who she has said is her “best friend”.

The couple first met as students at the Baltimore School of Arts in Maryland. “It was the first day and he came up to me and introduced himself,” Pinkett Smith once said in an interview. “Definitely, looking at him, he wasn’t the type of cat I would want to deal with at all.”

“But as soon as he approached me, he was like a magnet,” she continued. “Once you paid attention to him, he somehow drew you in. And from that moment on, we were together.”

Booking photo of Duane "Keefe D" Davis, photographed from a television monitor, is shown during a news conference at Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters held to inform reporters of Davis' arrest and indictment in the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  A Nevada grand jury indicted Davis on one count of murder with a deadly weapon in the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur.  (

Duane “Keefe D” Davis was arrested as a suspect in Shakur’s murder.

Ethan Miller/Getty

Suspect arrested in connection with Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder

Smith described Shakur as a “brother” and a “father figure.” “The type of relationship we had…you only get that once in a lifetime…”, she added emotionally.

In a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, Smith also talked about her friendship with Shakura.

“I have never met a person like Paco in my life. He had so much charisma,” she said of Shakur, son of activist and Black Panther Afena Shakur Davis.

Smith revealed that she and Shakur tried to deepen their relationship at one point while kissing — but both felt it wasn’t good. “Being older, I understand more about what it was between us,” continued Smith, who is married to Will Smith.

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“When you have two young people who have very strong feelings, but there was no physical chemistry between us at all.”

The new development in the case of Shakur’s murder comes after the investigation was reopened earlier this summer. On July 17, authorities searched a home in Henderson, Nev. associated with Davis.

The suspect, now 60, claimed to be one of three “living eyewitnesses” to Shakur’s murder, according to the book Legends of Compton Streetpublished in 2019.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education

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