The jury found three guilty of the murder in 2018 of rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot and robbed near a motorcycle shop in Florida.
On Monday, a jury found guilty three men accused of murdering 20-year-old rapper XXXTentacion outside a motorcycle shop north of Miami in 2018. Dedric Williams (26), Trayvon Newsom (24) and Michael Boatwright (28) were found guilty. first-degree murder and armed robbery. The jury meeting began on March 8.
The rapper, whose real name is Jasey Onfroy, was shot dead while driving out of a store when an SUV blocked his car to attack and rob him. One attacker repeatedly shot at Onfroy, while others stole a Louis Vuitton bag with $50,000 from the car and fled in an SUV.
All three are scheduled to appear in court on April 6 for sentencing on charges of first-degree murder, which means life in prison. Three men have pleaded not guilty, but a fourth man, Robert Allen (25), pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder in exchange for testimony in favor of prosecution against the other three.
Prosecutors say Boatwright was the shooter who opened fire on Onfroy, Newsome was the other shooter, and Williams was the driver of the SUV. Surveillance videos shown in court showed that the attack took place in a parking lot when two masked gunmen targeted XXXTentacion’s car with weapons at the ready. One appears to be shooting through the driver’s side window.
Although the defense tried to cast doubt on Allen’s testimony and argued that authorities failed to investigate Onfroy’s alleged ongoing feud with rapper Drake, the prosecution insists that there is no evidence of Drake’s connection to the shooting.
XXXTentacion became a star in 2017 when he uploaded the song “Look at Me” to SoundCloud, which peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. A few months later, he reportedly signed a $6 million recording contract with a subsidiary of Capitol Music Group. He quickly gained a huge and devoted fan base for his music, touching on topics such as loneliness and depression.
