Michael Sanft cause of death: Las Vegas lawyer, who represented Tupac Shakur murder convict 'Keffe D', found dead at 55

Michael Sanft, the lawyer who represented Duane Keith "Keffe D" Davis in his trial for the murder of rapper Tupac Shaur, has died, according to USA Today. He was found dead in Las Vegas on Friday (Nov. 6), a spokesperson for Clark County Office of the Coroner told the publication. Sanft was 55 years old. The cause of his death has not been revealed by the authorities as yet.

Sanft's defense of Keffe D

Sanft was considered a prominent attorney in Nevada, widely known for defending Davis, who was found guilty in August of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon for facilitating the deadly shooting of Shakur three decades ago.


When Davis was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison in October, Sanft had expressed his intention to appeal the conviction, and court records showed that he filed a notice of appeal on Oct. 30, according to USA Today.

After the sentencing, Sanft had told the local outlet FOX5: "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." He added that he and Davis had discussed their future moves.

"He had reminded me this is phase one. Because I was upset with the verdict, I was very disappointed in the jury. Mr. Davis was the one who said, 'Don’t worry about it, man, this is the first phase,' and I said, 'I understand, I hate to lose'," he said at the time.

What do we know about Sanft?

Sanft grew up on the island of Tongo and moved with his family to San Diego, California, when he was 12 years old, according to a biography on the website for his law firm, SOS Injury Lawyers. He attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Hawaii, according to the biography.

The website describes Sanft as "one of the most respected and effective trial attorneys in America," adding that he had decades of experience trying more than 150 cases. At the time of his death, Michael Sanft served as SOS Injury Lawyers' lead trial attorney.

He also defended former Las Vegas City Councilwoman and then-Pahrump Justice of the Peace Michele Fiore in a wire fraud and conspiracy case.