Three Men Found Guilty of Murder in Death of XXXTentacion

Eddie Fu
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The post Three Men Found Guilty of Murder in Death of XXXTentacion appeared first on Consequence.

Three men were found guilty of the 2018 murder of South Florida rapper XXXTentacion (born Jahseh Onfroy) on Monday, March 20th, following a month-long trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, were all found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery (via AP News) after the jury deliberated just over seven days. They will receive mandatory life sentences at a future date.

During the trial, prosecutors placed the men at the June 2018 shooting using surveillance footage taken inside and outside of Riva Motorsports. They also built their case around cellphone videos of them showing off stacks of $100 bills they allegedly stole.

Robert Allen, the fourth man indicted in connection to XXXTentacion’s murder, took the stand during the trial. He testified that the men had planned to commit robberies that day and went to the motorcycle shop to buy Williams a mask, but they spotted the rapper and decided to target him. After returning back to the SUV they rented, the men waited to ambush him.

Defense attorneys accused Allen of lying to avoid a life sentence and attempted to poke holes in the investigation by prosecutors and detectives, even claiming that they should have looked at possible suspects like Toronto rapper Drake, who had feuded with XXXTentacion on social media.

For the jury, the key pieces of evidence were text messages from Boatwright — who was identified as the shooter — including one about getting a car. According to prosecutors, he rented the SUV used in the shooting from a woman through a phone app. After going silent for two hours, he sent a text one hour after the shooting saying, “Tell my brother I got the money for the new phone.” Shortly afterward, he sent a screenshot of an article about XXXTentacion being shot.

On June 18th, 2018, XXXTentacion’s car was blocked by an SUV while leaving Riva Motorsports. Surveillance video showed two masked gunmen approaching the driver’s window, with one shooting the rapper repeatedly. They sped away after grabbing XXXTentacion’s Louis Vuitton bag filled with cash.

Newsome was accused of being the other gunman, while Williams was accused of being the SUV driver and Allen was also placed inside the car.

Though XXXTentacion earned a devoted following for his music addressing topics like depression and social alienation, he lived a troubled life. During his short lifetime, he was charged with crimes that included the aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery, false imprisonment, and witness tampering. Following his death, Pitchfork uncovered a secret recording of him confessing to numerous crimes.

Three Men Found Guilty of Murder in Death of XXXTentacion
Eddie Fu

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