Lumberton: Afeni's Hometown and Tupac's Grave

Place: Lumberton, Robeson County, North Carolina Connection: Birthplace of Afeni Shakur; her son’s grave on private property on the outskirts of town Access: Private property of the estate, not a memorial

That Tupac Shakur rests in southeastern North Carolina was known to only a few people for over two decades. No memorial commemorates him, no signpost points the way. The small town of Lumberton in Robeson County belongs to his story because it is the home of his mother, Afeni Shakur-and the place where his headstone stands today.

A House on 56 Acres: Afeni’s Return to Lumberton

Afeni Shakur was born Alice Faye Williams in Lumberton on January 10, 1947. As a child, she moved to the South Bronx, where she later found her way to the Black Panther Party (see biography). From there, her life led to Harlem, Baltimore, and California. In 2002, she returned to Lumberton. On a plot of roughly 56 acres (about 23 hectares), she had a large house built.

In 2004, she married local preacher Gust Davis. The marriage ended after about twelve years with a legal dispute and divorce. Afeni last lived on a houseboat in Sausalito, where she died on May 2, 2016. After her death, a private memorial service was held in Lumberton.

A Faded Stone Behind Rusted Fences

What happened to Tupac’s ashes is covered in full on the page Funeral, ashes, grave: A small portion was scattered in the ocean at Malibu, while Afeni kept the largest part. According to Jeff Pearlman’s research, she had the ashes buried on her property in Lumberton. The Border Belt Independent in December 2025 and The Robesonian in January 2026 printed this finding as an excerpt from Pearlman’s biography Only God Can Judge Me (published October 2025). A headstone bears Tupac’s name, the dates June 16, 1971 to September 13, 1996, and the words “Always in our hearts.”

Pearlman stood at the grave in March 2024. He writes that he cannot confirm with ultimate certainty what lies beneath it. The stone is faded, the surroundings marked by rusted fences and tall grass. The house has stood empty for years, with sealed boxes inside. The estate pays a distant relative to look after the essentials.

This text deliberately gives no house number or directions. The property is private estate land, not a public cemetery, and the reports mention no regulated access. Anyone in the area should respect that.

The Soweto Plan: Cancellation One Week Before the Date

A different resting place had once been planned. As the Mail & Guardian reported on September 6, 2006, the ashes were to be buried for the tenth anniversary of his death in Zola, a district of Soweto near Johannesburg. The city’s park authority and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation had set aside roughly two hectares for a memorial site. In five construction phases, orphanages, an environmental park, paths, and bridges were planned.

One week before the date, Afeni canceled the trip “for personal reasons.” Instead, a memorial gathering took place on September 9, 2006, at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia (TASF and Stone Mountain). The trip to South Africa was postponed to June 16, 2007, Tupac’s 36th birthday and also the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto student uprising. As far as is known today, the burial in Soweto never took place.

No Public Memorial, No New Plans

Afeni returned to the town she had left as a child and built a house there. Her son now rests on this property-without a memorial and in a condition Pearlman describes as undignified. Whether the estate or the family intends to change anything about the site is not publicly known. No reports newer than those of December 2025 and January 2026 are available.

For fans, Lumberton remains no place of farewell. Where they can mourn instead is shown on the pages Crime Scene Flamingo Road and Koval Lane and Monuments.