The Nevada Supreme Court has accepted Duane “Keffe D” Davis’ appeal challenging his conviction for the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, just days after the attorney who filed it died.
Davis, who was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison last month, is moving forward with his attempt to overturn the guilty verdict. However, the unexpected death of his defense attorney, Michael Sanft, has created a new complication in the legal process.
According to FOX5 Las Vegas, Sanft filed a notice of appeal on October 30, 2026. Less than a week later, the 55-year-old attorney was reported dead at his Las Vegas home. The Clark County Coroner’s Office confirmed his death on November 6, but an official cause and manner of death have not been released.
The Keffe D appeal was accepted by the Nevada Supreme Court, which reportedly had not yet received formal notification of Sanft’s death from the State Bar of Nevada as of November 9. Court officials indicated that once the notification is received, Davis will be given additional time to secure legal representation and submit the necessary documents.
Although the appeal is proceeding, the court’s action does not mean Davis has won a new trial or that his murder conviction has been overturned. His guilty verdict and prison sentence remain in place while the appellate process moves forward.
Sanft’s death comes just over two months after a Las Vegas jury found Davis guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon on August 31. Jurors reached their verdict in less than three hours following a trial that revisited the nearly 30-year-old killing of one of hip-hop’s most influential artists.
On October 13, Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny sentenced Davis to 40 years to life in prison. The 63-year-old had maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings.
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The Keffe D appeal follows a trial centered heavily on statements Davis made over the years about Shakur’s death. Prosecutors argued that Davis organized the fatal shooting in retaliation for an earlier confrontation involving his nephew, Orlando Anderson, and members of Shakur’s entourage.
Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996, while riding in a BMW driven by Death Row Records co-founder Marion Suge Knight near the Las Vegas Strip. A white Cadillac pulled alongside their vehicle, and gunfire erupted. Shakur died from his injuries six days later at age 25.
Davis was not accused of firing the fatal shots. Instead, prosecutors maintained that he helped arrange the attack and supplied a firearm to the group involved. They relied heavily on his previous interviews, recorded statements to investigators, and accounts published in his 2019 memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”
Sanft challenged the prosecution’s case by arguing that his client’s previous accounts were exaggerated or fictionalized. He questioned the reliability of statements Davis made years after the shooting and pointed to the absence of physical evidence directly placing Davis inside the Cadillac that night.
Before his death, Sanft had also raised concerns about evidence admitted during the trial. In a September interview with FOX5, he discussed unsuccessful efforts to exclude statements Davis made to investigators in 2008 and 2009. He believed certain evidence should not have been presented to jurors and criticized the speed of their deliberations.
Those objections could become relevant to the Keffe D appeal, although the specific legal arguments that will be presented to the Supreme Court have not yet been publicly confirmed. A notice of appeal begins the process, but additional filings are needed to explain why the defense believes the conviction should be reversed.
Sanft had represented Davis without charging legal fees and remained committed to challenging the verdict after the trial. His death now leaves Davis facing the task of finding another attorney who can review the extensive trial record, evaluate previous rulings, and continue the appeal.
The case has remained deeply significant to Shakur’s family. During Davis’ October sentencing, Shakur’s siblings, Sekyiwa and Mopreme Shakur, addressed the court and requested the maximum punishment. Their statements reflected the lasting impact of the rapper’s killing nearly three decades earlier.
Davis was arrested in September 2023, becoming the only person ever charged in connection with Shakur’s murder. His 2026 conviction marked the first time anyone had been found criminally responsible for the shooting.
