Attorney who represented Tupac Shakur's killer is found dead aged 55 just days after filing an appeal

The attorney who represented Tupac Shakur's killer has been found dead at 55 only days after appealing his conviction.

Las Vegas lawyer Michael Sanft, who defended Tupac's convicted killer Duane 'Keffe D' Davis in the high-profile murder case, was discovered dead at his home on Friday morning.

Sanft died as Davis, 63, planned to appeal his conviction, with a notice of the appeal having been filed on Friday, October 30, according to FOX5.

Davis was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on October 13 after being found guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon for his role in the 1996 killing of Shakur.

He was charged after giving interviews and publishing a 2019 memoir describing his role in the shooting. Davis is the only person who has ever been charged in the rap icon's death.

'I don't see what I could've done differently,' Sanft previously said about the case, which he took pro-bono.

The Clark County Coroner's office said a cause and manner of death for Sanft was pending, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

A police spokesperson added that his death did not appear suspicious, according to the outlet. 

Las Vegas lawyer Michael Sanft, who defended Tupac's convicted killer Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, has died at 55

Sanft (left) died as Davis, 63, planned to appeal his conviction. He had been sentenced to 40 years-to-life in prison on October 13, when this picture was taken

Sanft remembered sitting down with Davis after the verdict, describing himself as 'very disappointed in the jury.'

'He had reminded me this is phase one,' Sanft said, according to FOX5.

'Mr. Davis was the one who said, "Don't worry about it, man," Sanft recalled. 'And I said, "I understand, I hate to lose."'

Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW with music mogul Marion 'Suge' Knight on the night of September 7, 1996, in Vegas, when a white Cadillac pulled up at a red light.

Davis said in his memoir that he was seeking revenge for Shakur and his entourage beating up his nephew, Orlando Anderson, hours before the drive-by shooting. 

He said he was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac and passed the gun to the backseat.

Shots broke out and Shakur was hit multiple times. He died six days later. 

Davis had spoken to detectives years earlier but avoided prosecution thanks to an agreement he made with authorities.

Prosecutors relied on Davis's own statements during the weeks-long trial. After nine days of testimony in August, the jury deliberated for three hours and found him guilty.

Sanft had argued that Davis's confessions were lies and that the prosecution's allegations were based on those.

A cause of death for Sanft, pictured with Davis in Clark County District Court, has not been revealed as of Saturday morning 

Sanft argued during the trial that Davis's confessions in interviews and memoirs regarding Shakur's 1996 murder were lies

Davis was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury following nine days of testimony in August 

Marc DiGiacomo, one of the prosecutors in Shakur's murder case, said Sanft was 'one of the premier defense attorneys in Las Vegas.'

'Las Vegas lost a good lawyer and more importantly to me, I lost a friend,' DiGiacomo said Friday, the Review-Journal reported.

Clark County District Court marshal Michael Sloan, who said he was one of Sanft's best friends, praised the lawyer as 'one of the best human beings I knew.'

Another Sin City attorney, Mike Troiano, honored Sanft as an 'extremely talented trial lawyer who jurors and his peers loved.'

'I'm in total shock by this news, as is the legal community as a whole,' Troiano said, according to KSNV.  

A public biography for Sanft noted that he was raised on the South Pacific island of Tonga before moving to San Diego, California, at the age of 12.

He had tried more than 150 cases to jury verdict before his death, according to the biography. 

Other than the Davis case, Sanft was also known for representing former Las Vegas city councilwoman Michele Fiore after she was accused of using around $70,000 meant for a statue honoring a dead police officer for personal use, including cosmetic surgery.

Fiore was convicted of federal wire fraud in October 2024 but pardoned by President Donald Trump the following April before her sentencing.

'It's extremely sad, and the community has lost a very caring, great attorney,' Fiore told the Review-Journal.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Clark County Coroner's office for comment.