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.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.