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Michael Sanft, the attorney for Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who was convicted in the 1996 killing of U.S. rapper Tupac Shakur, was found dead at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, the New York Post reported. Sanft was 55.
Las Vegas police said Sanft’s death did not appear suspicious.
Court records obtained by Fox 5 Vegas show Sanft died one week after Davis filed an appeal against his murder conviction on Oct. 30.
U.S. media reports described the timing of the death as notable.
Davis, 63, was found guilty on Oct. 14 of organizing Shakur’s killing and of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
He was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. Davis’s attorney said at the time that they would challenge the conviction.
Even with time already spent in custody, the sentence means Davis could become eligible for parole at age 100 at the earliest.
Shakur, a well-known figure in hip-hop, was wounded on Sept. 7, 1996, when shots were fired from another vehicle that approached the car he was in. He was 25 at the time of the attack and died six days later.
Davis was detained in 2023 in connection with Shakur’s killing.
In their indictment, prosecutors argued that Davis was not the person who fired the weapon that killed Shakur but planned the attack “in retaliation” and obtained the weapon used.
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