XXXTentacion
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XXXTentacion appeared to be turning a corner in his musical and personal life when he was senselessly murdered by a trio of men in South Florida after a 2018 robbery attempt. The men were convicted of the murder in court on Thursday (April 6) with the three receiving sentences of life in prison.
NBC Miami was among several outlets reporting on the XXXTentacion murder trial where Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatwright, and Trayvon Newsome stood trial in a Broward County courthouse. According to the outlet, prosecutors did not seek the death penalty and Judge Michael Usan delivered a message to the men for carrying out the heinous crime.
“You’ll spend every hour and week and year in your cell. And one day you have passed on, and on that day you would’ve served your sentence,” Usan said.
The outlet also mentioned that the manager for XXXTentacion, Solomon Sobande, delivered a statement on behalf of the rapper’s family.
“This is a loss we will never truly recover from,” Sobande said. “We will never get to see Jahseh [Onfroy] live to his full potential, we will never get to watch him grow old, we will never get to watch him be a father.”
XXXTentacion’s grand aunt, Melody Jones, said she hoped that the men would receive the death penalty.
XXXTentacion was 20 at the time of his death.
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Photo: Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty
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Almost five years after the murder of XXXTentacion, justice has finally been served. The men behind his killing were found guilty of the crime, finally giving his grieving family closure over the matter.
TMZ is reporting that XXXTentacion’s mother, Cleopatra Bernard, was grateful that the jury returned a guilty verdict. Now, she can have some peace knowing her son’s killers will be spending a lot of time behind bars.
From TMZ:
As for whether Cleopatra anticipated this outcome, she tells us she actually did … and went into court Monday expecting all three defendants would be found guilty of murder — which, of course, they were after about 2 weeks of deliberations. She was also wearing an XXX shirt. Cleopatra says the experience has been gut-wrenching but is glad it’s all over now.One last thing from Cleopatra here — she tells us that the attempt to rope Drake into this trial from the defense side was a transparently desperate ploy just to raise doubt — and insists she and her loved ones always knew who was responsible for her son’s death.That entire Drake thing was indeed a wild Hail Mary that no one saw coming. The conspiracy theories behind the lyrics and everything was ridiculous. Still, that didn’t seem to matter as the jury felt the men were guilty as sin and had no qualms about saying as much.
That would be the 3 guys who now face serious prison time — Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams. Their fates seemed to have been sealed when another man admitted to being involved in the murder and testified against them, laying it all on the table.
Justice might’ve been slow, but at least it was true, right?
What do y’all think of the guilty verdict? Do y’all think the whole Drake theory held any weight? Let us know in the comment section below.
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On Monday, March 20, three men were found guilty of the 2018 murder of XXXTentacion. The three killed the rising Florida rapper during a botched robbery.
The jury reportedly took 27 hours of deliberation to find Michael Boatwright, 28, Trayvon Newsome, 24, and Dedrick Williams, 26, guilty. Prosecutors argued that Boatwright and Newsome were the gunmen while Williams was the getaway driver, and the organizer of the robbery.
There was a fourth man, who dropped dime on the murderous caper after a plea deal, while cell phone data pointed fingers at their scheme.
Reports the New York Times:
Surveillance video played in court showed the rapper’s BMW being blocked by an S.U.V. as he tried to leave a motor sports store in Deerfield Beach, Fla., leading to a confrontation with two masked assailants, who escaped with $50,000 in cash.
The trial turned largely on the jury’s interpretation of testimony from a fourth man present that day, Robert Allen, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year and testified against his alleged co-conspirators. The Broward County prosecutors also relied on surveillance video from the store that showed two of the men inside, seemingly observing XXXTentacion (born Jahseh Onfroy), as well as cellphone and Bluetooth data tying the men to the location and the S.U.V.
The assailants also did themselves no favors after the murder.
The evidence also included videos that prosecutors said showed the defendants dancing and posing with cash hours after the killing.
During more than 27 hours of deliberations across eight days, jurors had asked to review more than 1,000 text messages, along with photos and videos, seized from the cellphones of two of the defendants, including a picture of a news story about the shooting.
All the aforementioned men are facing life in prison, which are mandatory sentences.
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Jurors in the trial of three men accused of murdering rising rap star XXXTentacion concluded their fourth day of deliberations Monday by reviewing almost 1,200 text messages and several videos and photos seized from two of their cellphones.
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Some of the videos and photos showed the defendants flashing fistfuls of $100 bills hours after the June 18, 2018, shooting of XXXTentacion outside a suburban Fort Lauderdale motorcycle dealership. He was killed by two armed robbers who stole $50,000 he was carrying in a Louis Vuitton bag.
There was also a photo of a story from a news website about the shooting, photos from shopping and dating apps, an apparently random photo of then-first lady Melania Trump, videos of one defendant in a pedicab with a woman and a Father’s Day greeting.
The jurors made their request in the afternoon, asking to see the data from the phones of alleged shooter Michael Boatwright, 28, and the accused getaway driver and ringleader Dedrick Williams, 26, from the day before and day of the shooting.
Williams sent and received more than 950 text messages during that time and Boatwright had more than 200. Jurors had to crowd near a projection screen at the front of the courtroom to read them; they could not be read from the gallery.
The jurors did not ask for any data from the phones of alleged second gunman Trayvon Newsome, 24, or alleged co-conspirator Robert Allen, 26. Allen testified against his former friends after pleading guilty last year to second-degree murder.
Boatwright, Williams and Newsome are charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery and face mandatory life sentences if convicted. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. The jurors have deliberated about 15 hours since getting the case late Wednesday at the end of four-weeks of testimony. Deliberations will resume Tuesday.
XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, had just left Riva Motorsports, where he had been looking at motorcycles to purchase, when his BMW was blocked by an SUV that swerved in front.
Surveillance video showed that two masked gunmen emerged and confronted the 20-year-old rapper at the driver’s window, and one shot him repeatedly. They then grabbed the bag with the money, got back into the SUV and sped away. The friend was not harmed.
Allen testified that the men set out that day to commit robberies and went to the motorcycle shop to buy Williams a mask. There they spotted the rapper and decided to make him their target. Allen and Williams went inside the shop to confirm it was him.
They then went back to the SUV they had rented, waited for XXXTentacion to emerge and ambushed him, according to testimony. Prosecutors said surveillance video from the dealership, cellphone data and the videos of the men flashing money ties them to the shooting.
The men’s attorneys said Allen is lying and that their DNA was not found on the artist. Attorneys for some of the men said that while the money-flashing videos were “stupid,” they don’t prove their clients were actually involved in the shooting and robbery.
The rapper, who pronounced his name “Ex ex ex ten-ta-see-YAWN,” was a platinum-selling rising star who tackled issues including prejudice and depression in his songs. He also drew criticism over bad behavior and multiple arrests, including charges that he severely beat and abused his girlfriend.
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Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty / XXXTentacion
The certified lover boy, Drake, has blood on his hands. That is what defense lawyers in the XXXTentacion murder trial are claiming.
Drake allegedly played a vital role in the 2018 murder of Hip-Hop star XXXTentaction, the defense team for the three men on trial for the death of the “SAD!” crafter claim.
According to the lawyers, an alleged beef between the late rapper and Drizzy possibly led to XXXTentacion’s 2018 murder, but authorities never pursued that angle.
The trial of Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams is finally underway, with opening statements being presented. All three men are charged with first-degree murder and are looking at life in prison for XXXTentacion’s murder.
A fourth member, Robert Allen, who was with the three other men, has already pled guilty to second-degree murder last year and will take the stand against Boatwright, Newsome, and Williams.
In December, the three defendant’s attorneys named Joe Budden, Drake, and The Migos, plus others as key witnesses, the Miami Herald reports. The defense also claims the three men are a victim of the lies being spread by Allen.
Broward Circuit Judge Michael Usan isn’t buying what the defense is selling, and wonders what relationship the celebs named have with the murder. The prosecution called the defense’s tactics a silly stunt.
The Prosecutor Thinks The Drake Link Is A Joke
“It is apparent from the deliberate, late disclosure of the defendant’s witnesses and comments made between the parties that [the] defendant intended to ‘surprise’ the state and create a trial by ambush,” prosecutor Pascale Achille said to the judge.
She also said the defense provided no addresses or contact information for the celebs so that a subpoena could be issued.
Dedrick Williams’ attorney, Mauricio Padilla, pushed back at Achille’s claims of his tactics being nothing more than a joke.
“They are high-profile people,” Padilla told Judge Usan. “And it’s not easy for me to subpoena. I don’t have numbers, but it doesn’t mean I won’t be able to. Trying to subpoena Drake is not easy — you need a drone.”
Drake’s name being brought up during the trial by lawyers due to an eyebrow-raising post on XXXTentaction’s Instagram page where he wrote, “If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi.”
The post was eventually deleted, and the late rapper said his account was hacked. XXXTentacion also threw shots at Drake and his mother on Twitter.
As expected, Twitter had thoughts and sounded off on the platform. You can see the reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Scott Dudelson / Getty
Defense attorneys for one of the four men charged with the 2018 murder and robbery of XXXtentacion have listed a handful of notable rappers and celebrities — including Drake, Quavo, Offset, late Migos rapper Takeoff, Tekashi 6ix9ine and Joe Budden — as witnesses, according to court documents.
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The move stems from unsubstantiated Internet rumors that swirled following XXXtentacion’s death, in connection with Drake’s 2017 beef over what the late artist believed to be a rip-off of his flows from breakout track “Look at Me!” on the OVO rapper’s “KMT.” A year after the drama, a story was posted to XXX’s Instagram page that read, “If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi,” tagging Drake’s Instagram handle. XXXtentacion claimed his account was hacked and four months later, he was killed in Deerfield Beach, Fla.
At a Thursday (Dec. 15) hearingreported on by the Miami Herald, prosecutors called the move a stunt and Broward Circuit Judge Michael Usan demanded answers in writing as to why the superstars were relevant. Prosecutors also noted that the defense did not provide addresses where the notable celebs could be served subpeonas, or any contact information. “It is apparent from the deliberate, late disclosure of the defendant’s witnesses and comments made between the parties that [the] defendant intended to ‘surprise’ the state and create a trial by ambush,” wrote prosecutor Pascale Achille, as reported by the Herald.
The amended witness list was submitted by Miami defense attorney Mauricio Padilla, who is representing 27-year-old Dedrick Williams, the alleged getaway driver. Padilla denied Achille’s claims, blaming delayed depositions.
“They are high-profile people. And it’s not easy for me to subpoena. I don’t have numbers, but it doesn’t mean I won’t be able to,” Padilla told the judge. “Trying to subpoena Drake is not easy — you need a drone.”
The all-star rappers being listed as potential witnesses does not mean they will be obligated to show up to court. Their appearance would be contingent upon Padilla proving relevance, which remains to be seen.
XXXtentacion was shot to death on June 18, 2018, at age 20. Leaving Riva Motorsports Motorcycle & Marine Superstore, the late rapper was attacked by two armed men. After a brief struggle, XXXtentacion was robbed and shot multiple times and later pronounced dead at the Broward Health North Hospital.
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