The lawyer who defended Tupac Shakurâs convicted killer Duane âKeffe Dâ Davis was found dead in Las Vegas â just days after filing an appeal in the high-profile murder case.
The body of Michael Sanft, 55, was discovered inside his Sin City home on Friday morning, his friend Michael Sloan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
His cause and manner of death remain pending, and no further details have been released. Police said Sanft’s death doesn’t appear to be suspicious, according to the outlet.
Sanftâs death comes just one week after he filed a notice of appeal challenging Davisâ murder conviction on Oct. 30, court records obtained by Fox 5 Vegas show.
Davis, 63, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Oct. 13 after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon for his role in the 1996 killing of rap superstar Shakur.
The rapper, 25, was shot four times in a drive-by attack in Las Vegas in September 1996 and died in a hospital six days later.
Davis was convicted of masterminding Shakurâs murder after he owned up to it while trying to dodge potential charges in 2008. He had repeatedly bragged about his involvement in the rapperâs killing, as he claimed credit for the shooting in his 2019 memoir.
Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, had been beaten up by Shakur inside the MGM Grand casino on the Las Vegas Strip hours before the deadly shooting. Anderson was identified as the gangster who fired the fatal shots while Davis orchestrated the ambush.
Davis is the first person to be charged in connection with the murder â while Anderson was killed in a shootout two years after Shakur’s death.
Sanft, a prominent Nevada defense attorney who represented Davis pro bono, maintained that he had done everything possible during the trial and stood by his team’s work.
âWe 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 donât see what I couldâve done differently,â Sanft told FOX5 after the verdict.
He also recalled a conversation with Davis following the jury’s decision.
âHe 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, âDonât worry about it, man, this is the first phase,â and I said, âI understand, I hate to lose,ââ he said.
He leaves behind two children.
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