Michael Sanft, the Las Vegas attorney who represented Duane “Keefe D” Davis in the Tupac Shakur murder trial, has died. He was 55.
The attorney was found dead in his Las Vegas home, local news stations Fox 5 Las Vegas and KTNV reported on Friday, Nov. 6. No cause of death was given.
News of the attorney’s death came just days after Sanft filed a notice of appeal on Oct. 30 challenging Davis’ murder conviction.
Davis was convicted of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in August for his role in the 1996 shooting death of Shakur. A Las Vegas judge sentenced him to 40 years to life in prison on Oct. 13.
“I’m gonna appeal this case, for sure,” Davis told the judge after he was found guilty.
The former South Side Compton Crips gang leader was arrested in September 2023, nearly three decades after Shakur was killed. He pleaded not guilty after being taken into custody.
Prosecutors said the shooting was in retaliation for a fight inside the MGM Grand hotel, when Shakur and his entourage physically assaulted Keefe D’s nephew Orlando Anderson.
Investigators said Davis orchestrated Shakur’s murder.
Over the years, the former gang member admitted in interviews that he was involved in the killing, but he insisted someone else fired the fatal shots. The three other men in the car with Davis the night of the killing have all since died.
Sanft took over Davis’ defense in March 2026. Davis initially had court-appointed lawyers before hiring Carl Arnold in January 2024. He replaced Arnold with another legal team in August 2025, after losing a separate jailhouse battery case. Those attorneys withdrew from the murder case in March 2026, citing a dispute over legal fees and the cost of hiring investigators and experts.
Sanft then agreed to represent Davis for free, telling Fox 5 Vegas he didn’t want money issues interfering with the defense.
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