How sad. Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur Davis, died after allegedly suffering a heart attack on Monday night, May 2.
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The Sheriff’s Coroners Office will lead an investigation to the exact cause of her death. The agency said deputies were responding to a report of a possible cardiac arrest at Shakur’s Sausalito home, but no other details were provided. She was later pronounced dead at 10:28 p.m. In April 1969, she and a number of other Black Panthers were arrested and charged with several counts of conspiracy to bomb police stations and other public places in NY. She and the other members of the Panther 21 group were eventually acquitted after an eight-month trial and released from prison in May 1971.
Following Tupac’s shooting death in 1997, Shakur Davis took control of her son’s estate and vowed to keep his memory alive.
Interestingly enough, Afeni’s son Tupac was also the step-nephew and godson of Assata Shakur, the woman convicted of killing a New Jersey state police officer who fled from prison and has been living in Cuba for the past 32 years.
She was the subject of his 1995 song “Dear Mama”, in which Tupac detailed his childhood struggles and respect for his mother.
Afeni was only 69-years-old and according to biographer Jasmine Guy, she was born under the name Alice Faye Williams in Lumberton, North Carolina. Since the death of her son, 2Pac, in September 1996, she has been fiercely protective of his estate.
She talked about missing him in a 2011 video, saying “I miss his being”.
Earlier this year, she was embroiled in a divorce battle with Gust Davis, her husband of 12 years, TMZ reported. Afeni Shakur served as an executive producer for the film.
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Though the two had a falling out – Pinkett Smith didn’t agree with the direction in which he was headed as he rose to fame – the actress said his sudden death taught her one invaluable lesson.
