Michael Sanft dead at 55: the Las Vegas attorney who defended Duane “Keffe D” Davis at his trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur was found dead on Friday, 6 November 2026.
According to USA Today, a spokesperson for the Clark County Office of the Coroner confirmed on Friday, 6 November 2026, that Sanft was found dead in Las Vegas at the age of 55. The cause of death is pending, and no further details have been released. Las Vegas police referred questions to the coroner’s office.
Sanft took on the case of Davis, 63, without charging a fee after Davis’s previous attorney withdrew. A jury convicted Davis on Monday, 31 August 2026, of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon for orchestrating the 1996 shooting of Shakur off the Las Vegas Strip. Davis is the only person ever charged in the killing.
Who was Michael Sanft?
Sanft was the lead trial attorney at SOS Injury Lawyers, a Las Vegas personal injury firm. His biography on the firm’s website says he grew up in Tonga, moved to San Diego at age 12 and tried more than 150 cases. He earned his law degree at Brigham Young University and had been a member of the Nevada state bar since 2002.
Sanft also defended Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas city councilwoman, in her 2024 federal wire fraud case. He withdrew after a federal jury found her guilty of diverting money from charitable and political causes for personal use, and she was later pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Michael Sanft and the Tupac Shakur murder trial
The trial opened on Monday, 17 August 2026. Jurors heard a 2008 interview in which Davis told detectives his nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, fired the shots that killed Shakur. Sanft called three witnesses, all former Las Vegas police officers, and Davis did not testify. Sanft told jurors:
“There’s not one thing that says that Mr. Davis was in Las Vegas on the night of the shooting of Tupac Shakur,” Sanft said.
Judge Carli Kierny sentenced Davis to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday, 13 October 2026. Sanft said at sentencing that he intended to appeal, and court records show a notice of appeal was filed on Friday, 30 October 2026. Sanft told a Las Vegas broadcaster that Davis took the verdict calmly:
“Don’t worry about it, man, this is the first phase,” Davis told him.
Sanft said he had no regrets about how the defence was run on Davis’s behalf at trial, and he credited the team that worked on the case with him, including an investigator and his own firm:
“Maybe if I had a psychic sitting next to me to help discern who should be on the jury,” Sanft said. “We had the best team possible in this case, from the motion practice work on this appeal to our investigator to our firm here at SOS Injury. We all did our part. I don’t see what I could’ve done differently.”
Sources
- USA Today (via Yahoo), Attorney who defended convicted Tupac killer 'Keffe D' dies at 55
- KSNV, Las Vegas attorney who represented Tupac Shakur murder suspect has died
- KTNV, Michael Sanft, Las Vegas attorney who represented 'Keefe D', dead at 55
- Billboard, Michael Sanft, Attorney Who Represented Keffe D in 2Pac Murder Trial, Dies at 54
- FOX5 Las Vegas, Defense attorney in Tupac murder trial took case pro bono, says he believes his client is innocent
- WDBO, Duane 'Keffe D' Davis found guilty of murder in 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur
- ITV News, Duane 'Keffe D' Davis gets 40 years to life for orchestrating murder of Tupac Shakur
- Clark County Office of the Coroner, confirmation of death to USA Today
