On Monday, March 20, three men were found guilty of the 2018 murder of XXXTentacion during a botched robbery.
Source: Jason Koerner / Getty 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. Related Stories 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 rappers 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 jurys 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. . Read more