Michael Sanft, Attorney Who Represented Keffe D in 2Pac Murder Trial, Dies at 54

Skip to main content Sanft put together a team and took on Davis' case pro bono. Attorney Michael Sanft (L) talks with his client Duane Davis in Clark County District Court during a calendar call and motion hearing for his upcoming trial at the Regional Justice Center on August 04, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Davis was indicted on a murder charge in connection with the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996. Ethan Miller/Getty Images Michael Sanft, the defense attorney who represented Duane “Keffe D” Davis during the 2Pac murder trial, has died, FOX5 Las Vegas reported. He was 54 years old. Sanft put together a team and took on Davis’ case pro bono while serving as the lead trial attorney for the Vegas-based SOS Injury Lawyers, where he has tried more than 150 cases. After the highly publicized trial, he told FOX5 Las Vegas that he didn’t have any regrets. Explore See latest videos, charts and news “Maybe if I had a psychic sitting next to me to help discern who should be on the jury,” he told the outlet. “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.” Thirty years after the 25-year-old Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas following a Mike Tyson fight, the now-63-year-old Keffe D was found guilty for his role in orchestrating the killing and sentenced to 40 years in prison. “You don’t get to take a man from his family, you don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him and just walk away from it. Especially when that man is Tupac Shakur,” Judge Carli Kierny told Davis as she handed down his sentencing. “It took us 30 years, but at this time you are going to face justice for what you did on Sept. 7, 1996.” Sanft reportedly died on Thursday night in Las Vegas. No cause of death has been confirmed as the details surrounding his passing have been limited so far. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up