Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, has been found guilty of one count of murder with a deadly weapon over the drive-by shooting that killed Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas on 7 September 1996. It is the first conviction in a case that has intrigued hip-hop fans for close to three decades.

Davis stood impassively in a black suit as the verdict was read, and said afterwards that he would appeal. During the trial the court heard a 2008 recorded police interview in which he said he was in the car the shots were fired from, but that he did not fire the bullets that killed Shakur.

Prosecutors argued that although Davis did not pull the trigger, he ordered the shooting and supplied the gun used by his nephew Orlando Anderson. Anderson, who denied involvement, died in an unrelated shooting in 2008.

The state told jurors the shooting was retaliation after Anderson was involved in a fight with Shakur and his crew in Las Vegas hours earlier — a flashpoint in a period of intense East Coast / West Coast rivalry and gang feuds that ran deep through the rap scene at the time.

Shakur was 25 and at the height of his career, one of rap’s most influential voices, with more than 75 million records sold worldwide. As the verdict was read his relatives held hands, hugged and cried in court; outside, fans cheered and wept.