The verdict in XXXTentacion murder case came out on Monday and all three men – Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams – have been found guilty of murder in the 2018 shooting, which was believed to be a robbery-turned deadly.
The jury’s deliberations started on March 8 and the verdict came out today. The 3 were charged with first-degree murder with a firearm and armed robbery. A fourth man was also involved, named Robert Allen. After being arrested in connection to the killing, he pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder and also agreed to testify against the other 3 suspects. He maintained that he was hesitant about the robbery from the beginning and even asked the others to ditch the idea at the moment.
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At the time of his murder, the 20-year-old rapper was at a South Florida motorcycle dealership when prosecutors say he was shot in his vehicle. He is believed to be a victim of a robbery 5 years ago. The convicted men fled with $50K in cash and a Louis Vuitton bag.
Defense attorney Joseph Kimok said in closing arguments last month that evidence clears all 3 men from the crime. He argued that DNA found on the rapper’s body and necklace didn’t belong to them.
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However, surveillance footage from the dealership played during the discovery and bail hearing for Allen back in 2018 appeared to show the entire incident going down in real-time.
One of the most controversial moments came during the rapper’s trial when the alleged autopsy picture of Rapper Xxxtentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo, was leaked on Twitter and Reddit. When the picture was reportedly shown to the judge during the broadcasted murder trial, social media users took screenshots of it. They termed it an “autopsy” picture.