Lawyer Who Defended Tupac Shakur's Killer Duane Davis Found Dead

Michael Sanft, the lawyer who represented Duane “Keffe D” Davis — who was convicted of organizing the killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur — was found dead on Friday at the age of 55.

Sanft’s body was found at his Las Vegas home on Friday morning, the lawyer’s friend Michael Sloan told Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“He was one of my best friends and one of the best human beings I knew,” Sloan, a Clark County District Court marshal who rode motorcycles with Sanft, said.

The cause and manner of his death remain pending, and no additional details have been released. Police, meanwhile, say Sanft’s death does not appear suspicious, the newspaper noted.

Sanft — an experienced attorney who wore his hair long and pinned a rosette on the lapel of his suit jackets — was found dead just one week after filing an appeal in the high-profile murder case, according to court records obtained by Fox 5 Vegas.

As Breitbart News reported, in August, a jury found 63-year-old Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty in the murder of Tupac Shakur — roughly 30 years after the tragic killing of the rap superstar. On October 13, Davis was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.

Shakur was gunned down on the night of September 7, 1996, while sitting in a black BMW with Death Row Records head Marion “Suge” Knight.

The two were reportedly waiting at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip when assailants in a white Cadillac pulled up alongside them and opened fire. Shakur died from his gunshot wounds six days later in the hospital.

The jury found Davis guilty after deliberating for “less than three hours,” ABC News reported, unanimously convicting for “murder with the use of a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.”

During Davis’ trial, Sanft questioned the credibility of his own client, who had made multiple statements about his involvement in the killing. He also criticized the quality of the law enforcement investigation.

Unlike some defense attorneys, however, Sanft appeared able to maintain cordial relationships with prosecutors, Las Vegas Review-Journal noted.

“Michael Sanft was one of the premier defense attorneys in Las Vegas, and Las Vegas lost a good lawyer. And more importantly to me, I lost a friend,” Marc DiGiacomo, one of the prosecutors in Davis’ case, told the newspaper.

Sanft, who according to his biography tried 150 cases to jury verdict, grew up on the island of Tonga in a home without electricity, sharing a water faucet with three other houses.

He moved to San Diego at age 12, and later served in a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, before studying at BYU-Hawaii. Sanft, a father of two, attended law school at BYU and received his license in 2002.

Alana Mastrangelo-Wrask is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.