Jada Pinkett Smith hoped for closure after a suspect was identified and arrested for the 1996 murder of her friend Tupac Shakur.
News of the arrest signaled a breakthrough in a case that has eluded investigators and fascinated the public for over three decades.
Shakur was 25 when he was fatally gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on the night of September 7, 1996.
Prosecutors announced on Friday that a Nevada grand jury indicted 60-year-old Duane "Keffe D" Davis, one of the last living witnesses tied to Shakur's murder.
Davis had previously admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir, Compton Street Legend, that he was in the white Cadillac from which gunshots were fired after it pulled up next to Shakur's BMW that tragic night.
A Nevada grand jury indicted him on one count of murder with a deadly weapon hours after he was arrested.
After the announcement, Smith, who was close with Shakur as classmates at the Baltimore School for the Arts, took to her Instagram story and expressed her optimism in the case.
“Now I hope we can get some answers and have some closure. R.I.P. Pac."
She ended her caption with a dove emoji to symbolize peace.
Jada Pinkett Smith speaks out following the arrest of Keefe D. (\ud83d\udcf8: @GettyImages )— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) 1696046564
Smith previously shared a vintage clip of her and Shakur dancing to the 1988 rap "Parents Just Don't Understand," performed by the rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, which featured her future husband, King Richard actor Will Smith.
"Here is part of the original video of Pac and I doing a terrible job at lip syncing Parents Just Don’t Understand," she wrote in the caption posted on September 20.
In spite of some commenters suggesting Smith was too invested in the case and neglecting her husband, fans came to her defense.
@nojumper She has every right to speak on this she grew up with him she knew him we didn\u2019t.— Imitation isnt always flattery\ud83e\udee5\ud83e\uddda (@Imitation isnt always flattery\ud83e\udee5\ud83e\uddda) 1696084559
@TheShadeRoom @GettyImages There's nothing else to say. Davis has a memoir where he stated everything that transpired. He even said Pac shot back. The cops maybe waited for him to run himself in with evidence. \n\nT'was a case of a gang run-in which ended fatally. \n\nMay his soul continue to rest in peace.— \ud835\ude7e\ud835\ude95\ud835\ude9e\ud835\ude9d\ud835\ude8a\ud835\udea2\ud835\ude98 (@\ud835\ude7e\ud835\ude95\ud835\ude9e\ud835\ude9d\ud835\ude8a\ud835\udea2\ud835\ude98) 1696128217
@nojumper Clearly Jada pac was close friends they went to the same school together— Tyiesha Miller \ud83d\udcaf\ud83e\udd1e\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\udcab (PPG) (@Tyiesha Miller \ud83d\udcaf\ud83e\udd1e\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\udcab (PPG)) 1696118632
People are mad that Jada Pinkett Smith is happy that one of the people responsible for her friend's murder was arrested? Because that friend happened to be Tupac?? He's a stranger to yall and yall were celebrating. She can't be happy about her actual friend? Yall just hate her \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffe\u200d\u2640\ufe0f— Tee Mo (@Tee Mo) 1696112393
@NBCNews 2pack live on— elFocus (@elFocus) 1696115309
The Red Table Talk co-host appeared in a number of his music videos, including "Keep Ya Head Up” and “Temptations," and she was cast in the 1993 teen drama film Menace II Society at the insistence of Shakur prior to his being fired from the film
Despite his untimely death, Shakur remains known for being one of the most influential artists of his time.
His political hip-hop lyrics often reflected social issues prominent in inner-city communities, and fans regarded him as a symbol of activism against inequality and injustice.
