Three men accused of ambushing, robbing, and ultimately killing South Florida rapper XXXTentacion were convicted on Monday in the June 2018 murder.
Trayvon Newsome, 24, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Michael Boatwright, 28, were found guilty of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm in connection with the fatal shooting of the 20-year-old rapper, which was captured by security cameras and sent the Hip Hop world into equal mourning and outrage. The trio now faces life in prison.
Jurors reached their conclusion after eight days of deliberation and a month-long trial that featured damning testimony against the defendants from a friend involved in the attack, recordings of the suspects flaunting cash just after the rapper’s death, and claims from prosecutors that the suspects were “predators” who stalked the rising star before they executed him in cold blood.
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As the verdict was read, the three defendants remained emotionless. XXXTentacion’s family was also present in the courtroom.
Prosecutors allege that on June 18, 2018, the group waited for XXXTentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, outside of a Fort Lauderdale motorcycle shop, Reva Motorsports, before blocking his BMW as he tried to leave. Two masked gunmen then confronted XXXTentacion—before shooting repeatedly and grabbing a Louis Vuitton bag stuffed with $50,000 in cash. The group fled the scene and one of XXXTentacion’s friends, who was in the passenger seat of the car, was unharmed.
Hours later, the group took cellphone videos of themselves dancing with fistfuls of $100 bills.
“This is who they are. This is their real character. Killers that within 24 hours after shooting the victim dead and stealing $50,000 from him, this is what they do,” prosecutor Pascale Achille told the jury on Tuesday while playing the footage. “Look at how happy they look. Look at how excited they look.”
Authorities originally arrested four individuals in connection with the tragic slaying, with prosecutors alleging that Boatwright and Newsome were the gunmen and William was the driver. The fourth man, Robert Allen, pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder and testified in court against his former buddies.
Defense attorneys for the three defendants insisted their clients were innocent, claiming a lack of DNA evidence at the scene and calling Allen a “liar.” William’s lawyer, Mauricio Padilla, claimed investigators did not look at other possible suspects—including rapper Drake who had been in an online feud with XXXTentacion at the time of the murders.
“Whoever [XXXTentacion] struggled with is not in this courtroom,” Joseph Kimok, who represented Boatwright, told jurors this week. “The DNA proves that someone not named Michael Boatwright or Trayvon Newsome participated in this murder.”
Throughout the month-long trial, prosecutors walked jurors through surveillance and cellphone footage to show how the group targeted XXXTentacion and waited for him to emerge from RIVA Motorsports on the day of the slaying. While on the stand, Allen testified that he was hesitant to participate in the attack—and even asked his friends if it was a “good idea.”
But Allen went along with the plan anyway after waiting about 10 minutes for the rapper to exit the store.
“As they’re driving, coming out of RIVA Motorsports, Dedrick [Williams] blocks them off, and Michael Boatwright and Trayvon Newsome get out and rob them,” Allen testified. Noting that Boatwright and Newsome then exited the car “very fast,” Allen said that he saw the former point his gun at XXXTentacion while the latter took the rapper’s necklace.
Boatwright then shot XXXTentacion “two or three times” before the pair ran back into the car and Williams drove away, Allen said. The attack, he added, lasted about “three minutes.”
Achille pulled off a dramatic stunt on Tuesday, going silent midway through her summation for eight minutes and 35 seconds—the amount of time cops say Allen, Boatwright, Newsome, and Williams sat outside Reva waiting for Onfroy to leave the dealership.
“During that time, Mr. Onfroy is inside Reva,” Achille said. “He doesn't have a clue that any of this is about to happen—that he has only eight minutes and 35 seconds left to live.”
Achille argued these facts were more damning than detectives recovering the masks, guns, and money from the attack because the group had plenty of time before their arrest to ditch that evidence.
“They planned and coordinated an attack on the victim,” Achille said. “Inside the Dodge Journey, they had everything they needed to rob and kill the victim. There were masks. There were firearms. They were ready to go.”
XXXTentacion died just as he was starting to reach national success. The rapper also had his own run-ins with the law, including charges for allegedly abusing his girlfriend.
