Brent Shapiro, 1980–2005

The 24-year old son of renowned defense attorney Robert Shapiro died Monday of an apparent drug overdose, authorities said.

Brent Edward Shapiro, a USC student on the dean’s list, had been partying with friends at a residence near the Hollywood Bowl after Saturday’s USC-Arizona football game. He became ill and was found in a comatose state at 7 a.m. Sunday. His friends called paramedics, who took him to Cedars-Sinai Hospital. At the hospital, Shapiro’s friends told emergency staff that he had taken the drug Ecstasy (also known as MDMA). He was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Blood tests at the hospital detected Ecstasy and methamphetamine. Ecstasy is a synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. The Coroner’s Office will conduct toxicology tests, with results taking up to six weeks.

“Mr. Shapiro’s death was sudden and unexpected,” said Chief Craig Harvey of the county Coroner’s Office. “Because Mr. Shapiro’s death was apparently caused by the ingestion of a substance and it was not due to natural causes, it made it a coroner’s case.”

Robert Shapiro is most famous for being a member of O.J. Simpson’s dream team, along with Johnnie Cochran. Shapiro’s clients have included Jose Canseco, Johnny Carson, Christian Brando and F. Lee Bailey. Shapiro is also the author of the New York Times best-seller The Search for Justice.

Funeral services for Brent Shapiro were held Wednesday at Stephen S. Wise Temple in L.A., with interment at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary. In addition to his father, Shapiro is survived by his mother, Linell, and a brother, Grant.