The defense team for the XXXTentacion murder trial is suggesting that one celebrity was involved in the late rapper’s murder!
In case you didn’t know, suspects Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams are accused of fatally shooting XXXTentacion during an apparent robbery at a motorcycle store in Florida in 2018. They’re each facing a first-degree murder charge and robbery charges. If convicted, they face a life sentence in jail. A fourth man, Robert Allen, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year and is set to testify against the three men during the trial.
And while there is a lot of evidence against the suspects, their defense team seems to be pulling out whatever they can to make jurors question if they’re actually guilty – including accusing investigators of not looking into other suspects, specifically Drake. You read that right. The defense team is trying to suggest the 36-year-old rapper somehow could have been behind the slaying!
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The 20-year-old’s death came four months after 17 people were killed in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. According to The New York Post, the defense argued that the Broward County Sheriff’s Office was under pressure to solve his murder and never explored other suspects, including Drake, who had a feud with XXXTentacion. In fact, they noted the artist once shared on social media that if he ever died, Drake was the reason. However, XXXTentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, later walked back on the statement. One of the attorneys, Mauricio Padilla, told jurors:
“For Broward County, for everyone involved, this was a nightmare.”
Prosecutors, for their part, shut down the theory, insisting the shooting was a robbery gone wrong. They also noted there is zero evidence linking Drake to the crime. Instead, the team says Boatwright, Trayvon, and Williams allegedly went to Riva Motorsports on June 18, 2018, to buy masks as they planned to commit armed robberies. But when they saw XXXTentacion inside the store, they changed their plans and targeted him instead.
Later, the HOPE musician exited the place in his BMW but was cut off by Williams’ SUV. According to prosecutor Pascale Achille, Boatwright and Newsome allegedly stormed the vehicle to rob XXXTentacion, and they took about $50,000 he had in a Louis Vuitton bag. She explained Boatwright then shot him multiple times “without any provocation.” The three men were also tied to the shooting through surveillance footage, cellphone spots, and testimony from Allen. Some of them even showed off the cash they stole on social media. Achille said:
“They go on social media and start bragging that they have this influx of cash. They flash it like it’s Christmas Day.”
Despite the surveillance footage, Boatwright’s attorney, Joseph Kimok, insisted his client was home asleep when the murder happened, and the cellphone data linked to him was a phone used by several men. Although Boatwright appeared with the money on social media, the lawyer said it belonged to Allen. Newsome’s lawyer also claimed the suspect was not at the scene of the crime.
Yeah… The defense’s Drake theory seems very implausible right now based on the evidence presented so far! Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via Drake/YouTube, XXXTentacion/YouTube]
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