Drake and Tekashi 69 are among a group of hip hop stars who are listed as potential defense witnesses for one of the men charged in the 2018 killing of local rapper XXXTentacion, court records showed.
The rappers are on a defense witness list that was submitted Tuesday for Dedrick Williams, who's facing a murder charge in the case in Broward County.
Included on the list are Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, Tekashi 69, real name Daniel Hernandez, Joe Budden, whose full name is Joseph Anthony Budden, and members of the group Migos.
Among those Migos members listed is Takeoff, also known as Kirshnik Khari Ball, who was killed in a shooting in Texas last month.
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The list is mentioned in a motion filed by prosecutors that's seeking contact information for the rappers and other potential witnesses in the trial of Williams, which is scheduled to begin Jan. 9.
"The State cannot adequately prepare to depose Defendant's witnesses and/or prepare for trial without the Defendant's disclosure of the witnesses' basic contact information," the motion read. "This deliberate, late disclosure by Defense is also exacerbated by the fact that discovery was filed two weeks before Christmas and mere weeks before trial.
Williams, Robert Allen, Michael Boatwright and Trayvon Newsome have all been charged in the fatal shooting of XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, on June 18, 2018, as he was leaving a motorcycle shop in Pompano Beach.
The 20-year-old Onfroy had withdrawn about $50,000 from a bank before going to the RIVA Motorsports shop at 3671 N. Dixie Highway.
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The four are accused of killing Onfroy for the money.
It's unknown what possible connection the other rappers would have with the case. Fringe conspiracy theories trying to connect Drake to the killing have popped up on the internet but have never been proven.
This past August, Allen pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for testimony against the other three co-defendants.
According to an indictment, Boatwright was the gunman who fatally shot XXXTentacion. Williams was seen in the store on surveillance cameras while XXXTentacion was shopping, the indictment said.
Williams later told police he was with others at the motorcycle shop but did not know in advance they intended to rob the rapper. Authorities said Williams drove the SUV the suspect fled in.
