Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The three men convicted of murdering rapper XXXTentacion have been sentenced as of Thursday.
According to multiple reports, Trayvon Newsome, Michael Boatwright, and Dedrick Williams were sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2018 death of XXXtentacion.
As per CBS News, the defendants showed “little emotion” as Circuit Judge Michael Usan delivered their fates.
After a long, contentious trial and more than a week of deliberations last month, all three men accused of killing rapper XXXTentacion were found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery, Local 10 reports.
In June 2018, the young rapper, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, was ambushed after leaving Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach, Florida. A blue Dodge Journey cut off his car when two masked men jumped out of the SUV and stole a bag full of cash before fatally shooting him multiple times.
Authorities claim Newsome and Boatwright were the masked men, and Williams was driving while another man, Robert Allen, sat in the back seat.
Allen pleaded to second-degree murder and testified on behalf of the state back in June.
Meanwhile, all three are expected to appeal the guilty verdicts in the coming years.
The defense attempted to undermine Allen’s testimony. Furthermore, investigators failed to follow up on a feud with fellow rapper Drake. However, prosecutors said there was no evidence to link him to XXXTentacion’s murder, The Shade Room reported last month.
Just last month, Drake’s attorney filed a motion to overrule the subpoena request, which the judge ultimately granted.
XXXTentacion became a breakout star in 2017 after he released the “Look at Me” track on SoundCloud. The single eventually climbed to No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A few months later, he parlayed that success into a $6 million record deal with Capital Music Group. XXXTentacion gained a massive fan base for his music, openly dealing with depression and loneliness.
However, the rapper’s short career was not without controversy. According to court records, he was arrested in 2016 on multiple charges, including aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, false imprisonment, and witness tampering.
