Deliberations for the murder trial of XXXTentacion will stretch into a second day. NBC 6’s Marissa Bagg reports
Jury deliberations began Wednesday in the trial of three men accused of murdering rising rap star XXXTentacion during a 2018 robbery outside a South Florida motorcycle shop.
Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams and Trayvon Newsome are all charged with first-degree murder and face mandatory life sentences if convicted. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
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Boatwright, 28, is accused of being the shooter, while Newsome, 24, is accused of being the other gunman. Williams, 26, is accused of being the driver.
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The trial began in February and closing statements wrapped up Wednesday before the jury began deliberations.
Here's what you need to know about the shocking crime and what happened at the trial.
MURDER OF XXXTENTACION
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XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was a platinum-selling rising star who tackled issues including prejudice and depression in his songs. He also drew criticism over bad behavior and multiple arrests.
XXXTentacion had just left Riva Motorsports in suburban Fort Lauderdale on June 18, 2018, with a friend when his BMW was blocked by an SUV that swerved in front.
Surveillance video showed that two masked gunmen emerged and confronted the 20-year-old singer at the driver’s window, and one shot him repeatedly. They then grabbed a Louis Vuitton bag containing $50,000 cash that XXXTentacion had just withdrawn from the bank, got back into the SUV and sped away.
Video showed the rapper's friend, Leonard Kerr, running from the car. Kerr was not harmed.
Boatwright, Newsome, Williams and a fourth suspect, Robert Allan, were arrested after the killing.
Allen pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder and testified against his former friends.
THE MURDER TRIAL
During opening statements in February, the jurors heard divergent theories about the shooting. A robbery gone awry, according to prosecutors. According to the defense, it could have been a feud between XXXTentacion and the megastar Drake, but they say detectives refused to investigate that possibility.
Prosecutor Pascale Achille told jurors that Boatwright, Newsome, Williams and Allen set out that day to commit armed robberies. Allen and Williams went inside the motorcycle shop to buy masks, she said.
There, they happened upon XXXTentacion. The pair recognized him, and the group seized upon the opportunity, deciding to rob him as he left, Achille said. Boatwright shot him several times “without any provocation,” she said.
To varying degrees, the defendants are linked to the shooting by surveillance video and cellphone locations, and all are implicated through Allen's testimony, Achille said. Then there are the social media photos of some of the men flashing the money that were posted the night of the killing, she said.
To the men's attorneys, the defendants are victims of Allen's lies and the failure of detectives to investigate XXXTentacion's feud with Drake — XXXTentacion once said on social media that if he ever wound up dead, the Canadian rapper would be the cause. He later retracted that. Another rapper had also made threats against XXXTentacion.
Prosecutors said there was no evidence linking Drake to the shooting, and Williams was clearly seen in the store's surveillance video, recognizable through his distinctive facial tattoos. He was also identified by one of the clerks.
Joseph Kimok, Boatwright's attorney, also pointed the finger at a third man as the possible shooter — a friend Williams was seen talking to inside the motorcycle store just before the shooting who has the same build as his client. He alluded that the friend could have gotten into the SUV Williams was driving outside the view of surveillance cameras.
Kerr's testimony highlighted the opening day in the trial. He told jurors how he and the rapper were ambushed by armed robbers as they drove away from a motorcycle shop, how he fled in fear and then heard the gunshots that killed the rising star.
Two men jumped out with guns, Kerr said. He said the taller man pointed his weapon at him and told him not to get out of the car, punctuating his command with a curse word. The other man was trying to pull the rapper's gold chain from his neck. Kerr said he could hear XXXTentacion asking, “What's this for?” At that point, Kerr said, he decided to escape, pushing the button that opened the passenger door.
“If I run, I can get shot, but I can live. If I sit….” Kerr said, his voicing trailing off until he stopped to regain his composure.
Kerr said when he looked back, the taller man was pointing his gun at XXXTentacion, and he said he heard at least two loud bangs. The men then got back into the SUV and sped off.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS
Closing arguments began Tuesday with Achille telling jurors the three men on trial were "predators" who waited to ambush XXXTentacion.
Achille played cellphone videos the defendants allegedly took hours after the killing that showed them smiling and dancing as they flashed handfuls 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,” Achille told the jury as she played the video. "Look at how happy they look. Look at how excited they look."
She also played surveillance video from the motorcycle shop and from where two of them allegedly stashed an SUV that she says link the men to the killing. And she recounted statements from Allen, who testified against his former friends.
George Reres, Newsome’s attorney, implored the jury not to convict his client based on Allen’s testimony or evidence implicating the other two defendants, saying, "He was not there." He said Allen, a 12-time convicted felon, should not be believed and Newsome’s DNA was not found on any evidence.
He told jurors they should not believe Newsome is guilty simply because of the video showing him flashing money with the others, arguing he may not have even known where they got it.
"He did some stupid things — he posed with some money,” Reres said. “Guilt by association is not something the law permits."
Mauricio Padilla, Williams’ attorney, called Allen a "liar." He said the prosecution’s witnesses contradicted each other and Broward County sheriff’s detectives didn’t look at other possible suspects, including Drake. He said his client did tattooing and other work that paid him in cash, so the video of him flashing money means nothing.
Padilla also sought to cast doubt on the evidentiary value of the surveillance video, saying that while it may show his client in the store and walking back to the SUV, there are moments where the vehicle is blocked and Williams could have gotten out and left.
Kimok gave the final defense closing argument Wednesday and said that DNA evidence proves his client and another man are innocent.
"Whoever (XXXTentacion) struggled with is not in this courtroom,” Kimok told jurors. "The DNA proves that someone not named Michael Boatwright or Trayvon Newsome participated in this murder."
Achille in her rebuttal argument Wednesday admitted that Allen is not a perfect witness, that he has previous felony convictions, but co-conspirators in murders rarely are.
"Plans hatched in hell do not have angels for witnesses," she said.
Achille said that while detectives never found the guns, masks and money, only Williams was arrested within days of the shooting, giving the others time to hide any evidence. She said the lack of DNA evidence linking the defendants to the killing is irrelevant — that fact does not exclude them. She said much more importantly, cellphone data shows the defendants were together near the motorcycle shop at the time of the slaying and that Bluetooth data puts them in the SUV used by the shooters at that same time.
