XXXTentacion murder case: Three men found guilty
Three men charged with killing 20-year-old singer XXXTentacion during a 2018 ambush theft have been found guilty.
A Florida jury sentenced Michael Boatwright, 27, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, on Monday after pondering for over a week.
Three men have been seen guilty of the murder of XXXTentacion:
All three were arrested with first-degree killing in connection to the demise of the controversial singer.
Another fellow, Robert Allen, was found guilty last year of second-degree killing. The three face a possible punishment of life in jail.
Musician XXXTentacion, named Jahseh Onfroy, was shot and murdered in broad daylight in Florida in June 2018.
He was visiting a motorcycle showroom and was leaving when he came across two armed masked guys who “demanded property” from him, police stated.
At least one of the guys shot XXXTentacion during a 45-second fight. The suspects then took a Louis Vuitton bag of $50,000 (£42,000) in cash that the rapper had just taken from the bank before running the scene in an SUV.
During the hearing, the solicitor for Boatwright claimed that his client’s DNA was not seen on XXXTentacion’s body. He told the DNA of the two other guys did not match either.
“Whoever (XXXTentacion) worked with is not in this courtroom,” lawyer Joseph Kimok said during closing debates.
The fourth guy, Allen, testified against the other suspects after he was found guilty last year. Attorneys for the other suspects have pleaded that Allen lied about their client’s involvement in the theft and death.
They also argued that investigators mishandled the case and failed to consider other guys.
Lead prosecutor Pascale Achille, nevertheless, said that the absence of DNA proof was extraneous, as cell phone data reveals the three charged were together about the motorcycle shop at the time of the rapper’s demise.
Ms Achille said that Bluetooth data reveals the charges were in the SUV used by the shooters at that time.
