The three guys He was found guilty of killing XXXTentacion outside a motorcycle shop in Florida in 2018 and was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, April 6.
Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatright and Trayvon Newsom were all convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery late last month after seven days of jury deliberation. Closing arguments in the case concluded on March 8.
The late rapper’s manager Solomon Subande read a letter from XXXTentacion’s family at the sentencing. “This is a loss we will never truly recover from,” he said, V.I diverse. “We will never get to see Jahsa live to his full potential, we will never get to watch him grow up, we will never get to watch him become a father.”
Over a month later, on May 17, a fourth man, Robert Allen, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his involvement and testified against the other three men at trial, was sentenced to seven years in prison. He would eventually only spend two years behind bars thanks to his time on trial. He will also serve 20 years probation, according to the Miami Herald.
XXXTentacion’s aunt, Deandra Ellis, read a statement on behalf of the rapper’s family in Allen’s sentencing: “I say we are as satisfied as the judge refused at sentencing. We still have a long way to go. It’s still a daily process for us. Every day is just another day.” misses him.”
Allen also addressed the court, saying, “If I have to die in prison, let it be known at the risk I was taking. Let justice be done and I will know it is the right thing to do… Please forgive me.”
The trial opened in February, nearly five years after XXXTentacion — real name Jahseh Onfroy — was shot and killed On June 18, 2018, at the age of 20, lead prosecutor Pascal Achilles argued Onfroy was killed in a robbery gone wrong: He said the suspects planned to commit armed robberies that day but it only happened on Onfroy at the motorcycle shop because that’s where they stopped to buy masks. Although this encounter was serendipitous, Achilles claimed that the suspects recognized Onfroy and decided to rob him when he left the store.
The prosecution built its case around surveillance footage, mobile phone data that allegedly linked the suspects to the motorcycle shop, and social media posts that allegedly showed them flashing money they stole from Onfroy.
Allen — the fourth suspect, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder — spent several days testifying during the trial, during which he discussed how he and the other suspects ended up in the motorcycle shop and the immediate decision to target Onfroy. . Allen said that Williams convinced the group to confront Onfroy and that Boatwright shot him. Allen also said he decided not to participate in the robbery because he was “on camera” at the store, though he said he still got a $5,000 discount (while the other three allegedly took $15,000 each).
Williams’ defense, Mauricio Padilla, infamously attempted to bring rapper Drake (real name Aubrey Graham) to trial. Padilla alleged that Graham was somehow involved in Onfroy’s death, a theory that prosecutors neither put forth nor gave any credence to.
But Padilla sought to sow suspicion by highlighting an alleged feud between Graham and Onfroy, even citing in his February 2018 op-ed a social media post from Onfroy that read: “If anyone tries to kill me, it’s champagnepapi.” [Drake’s Instagram handle]. I’m groaning now.” (Onfroy later deleted that post—along with a few other incendiary posts—and wrote, “Please stop entertaining me with this Twitter nonsense. My accounts were previously hacked.”)
Padilla’s efforts even included trying to get Graham to sit down to deposit his testimony at the trial, which led to several weeks of back and forth over the matter. In the end, the judge ruled that Graham should not be removed due to a lack of evidence of his involvement. However, Padilla persisted with this tactic to an extent, claiming in his closing arguments that Broward County police detectives had not done enough to investigate other possible suspects, such as Drake.
This story was updated May 17, 2023 at 3:55 PM ET with news of the sentencing of Robert Allen.
