US rapper XXXTentacion’s convicted killers sentenced to life in prison
- The singer was shot to death outside a South Florida motorcycle in 2018
- The killers, who were found guilty of first-degree murder, also stole a bag containing US$50,000 in cash from XXXTentacion and fled
Three men were given life sentences on Thursday for the 2018 killing of star US rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot outside a South Florida motorcycle shop while being robbed of US$50,000.
Michael Boatwright, 28, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, were each convicted last month of first-degree murder and armed robbery by a jury following eight days of deliberations.
Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, so life in prison was the only sentence that Broward County Circuit Judge Michael Usan could impose for the first-degree murder convictions.
During the month-long trial, prosecutors linked Boatwright, Williams and Newsome to the June 18, 2018, shooting outside Riva Motorsports in suburban Fort Lauderdale through extensive surveillance video taken inside and outside the store, plus mobile phone videos the men took showing themselves flashing fistfuls of US$100 bills hours after the slaying.
Prosecutors also had the testimony of a fourth man, Robert Allen, a former friend of the defendants who said he took part in the robbery. He pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder. His sentence was delayed until the conclusion of the other three defendants’ trial.