The three men that have been found guilty in the murder of rapper XXXTentacion have been sentenced to life in prison. Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24 were found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida last month after a month-long trial on Thursday, April 6.
Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, professionally known as XXXTentacion, was killed in a shooting while leaving a car dealership in Miami, Flordia, in 2018 when he was 20.
Dedrick Williams, Trayvon Newsome and Micheal Boatwright have all been sentenced to LIFE in prison without the possibility of parole.
They will spend their rest of their lives in prison for the murder of XXXTENTACION. pic.twitter.com/Nd6YLs4AHu
— elias (@eliasvro) April 6, 2023
A fourth co-defendant, named Robert Allen, previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges in August of last year, allegedly in hope of reducing his sentence by co-operating with law enforcement. During the trial, Allen testified that the three men had planned to commit robberies that day and went to the dealership to buy a mask, but then spotted XXXTentacion and decided to target him. The case was built around surveillance footage taken inside and outside of Riva Motorsports, plus phone videos that showed the trio with money that was allegedly stolen.
Solomon Sobande, XXXTENTACION’s manager, commented: “We sat through this entire trial without seeing the defendants display an ounce of remorse for taking Jahseh’s life. Smiling at us, blowing kisses, waving, without even taking into consideration you not only killed a son, but you killed a father.”
Since XXXtentacion’s death, a number of posthumous releases have been shared, featuring the album Bad Vibes Forever, released in late 2019. (NME)