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3 men found guilty of gunning down rapper XXXTentacion five years ago. Now what?

After a five-year hunt for justice, the court declared Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams and Trayvon Newsome responsible for gunning down South Florida rapper XXXTentacion during a 2018 heist.

READ MORE: Five years after XXXTentacion’s murder, three men found guilty in a month-long trial

The jury’s decision on Monday came after days of deliberations, weeks of testimony, and years of investigation. Here’s a look back at the case — from the beginning — as thousands who are following the trial await the final step: sentencing.

The murder of an emerging rapper

XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was fatally shot on June 18, 2018, as he was leaving the RIVA Motorsports dealership in Deerfield Beach.

A dark SUV blocked his BMW, and two gunmen hopped out — robbing the rapper and firing a spray of bullets. XXXTentacion was 20 years old when he was killed.

XXXTentacion performs during the second day of the Rolling Loud Festival in downtown Miami on May 6, 2017.
XXXTentacion performs during the second day of the Rolling Loud Festival in downtown Miami on May 6, 2017.

The focus of the robbery was a Louis Vuitton bag with $50,000 inside. The artist had withdrawn the sum from his account at a Bank of America branch in stacks of $100 bills hours before, unaware he was being followed.

Video surveillance, which was later played in court, shows two men jumping out of the 2017 Dodge Journey’s passenger-side doors. The attackers leaned into rapper’s window and demanded the diamond chain that he was wearing. He didn’t comply, so they shot him — and ran off with the LV bag.

READ MORE: Minute by minute, how cops tracked the four suspects in rapper XXXTentacion’s murder

Before the robbery, Williams, wearing a white tank top and orange sandals, exited the SUV’s driver’s seat while Robert Allen got out via the rear driver’s-side door. The pair went into Riva Motorsports, where Williams bought a black neoprene mask. Williams was recognized by Riva staff as a previous customer, likely helped by his heavily tatted face.

Williams and Allen then went back out to the SUV.

Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives noted Dedrick Williams wearing the same orange sandals in this photo they say video surveillance shows on him wearing in Riva Motorsports prior to the murder of rapper XXXTentacion
Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives noted Dedrick Williams wearing the same orange sandals in this photo they say video surveillance shows on him wearing in Riva Motorsports prior to the murder of rapper XXXTentacion

Williams’ orange slides proved to be pivotal in the case, with detectives tracking him down through Instagram and Facebook posts in which he sported the bright sandals.

Through phone pings and surveillance videos, police identified the two gunmen as Boatwright, 27, and Newsome, 24. They identified Williams, 26, as the getaway driver.

The suspects charged with the robbery and murder of rapper XXXTentacion (clockwise from top left): Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatwright, Robert Allen and Trayvon Newsome.
The suspects charged with the robbery and murder of rapper XXXTentacion (clockwise from top left): Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatwright, Robert Allen and Trayvon Newsome.

Allen, the fourth suspect, was also arrested in 2018, but he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery with a firearm in August.

The three in the hot seat

In the trial, which took more than a month, the prosecution centered its case on surveillance videos and phone records placing Boatwright, Williams and Newsome at the scene. Prosecutors also emphasized the flashy social media posts that helped bring the trio to detectives’ attention.

During her closing arguments in the XXXTentacion murder trial, Assistant State Attorney Pascale Achille shows videos of the defendants with large sums of money recorded shortly after the murder. This at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

Prosecutor Pascale Achille broke down the evidence and testimony the state presented, using maps, videos of the defendants dancing with money and even eight minutes of silence to show jurors how the crime was planned and executed. She also paraded the orange sandals that led detectives to Williams as well as a camouflage hat that led them to Boatwright and boxes of bullets that matched the ones used to gun down XXXTentacion.

During her closing arguments in the XXXTentacion murder trial, Assistant State Attorney Pascale Achille holds up a camouflage hat with a red brim that was seen worn by shooting suspect Michael Boatwright in multiple surveillance videos included as evidence in the case. This at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

Allen, 26, was the prosecution’s key witness, testifying against his co-defendants in the case. Achille urged the jurors to consider Allen’s testimony despite his checkered past.

“Plans that are hatched in hell do not have angels for witnesses,” she told jurors.

Defense attorneys all shaded Allen’s testimony, although each opted for a different strategy. Boatwright’s lawyer Joseph Kimok claimed that his client posted photos with stolen money but didn’t pull the trigger. Newsome’s attorney George Reres insisted that his client wasn’t at the crime scene. But Williams’ attorney Mauricio Padilla proposed the most elaborate theory: Broward detectives failed to investigate one of the biggest names in hip-hop — Drake.

Attorney Mauricio Padilla stands with his client, suspected shooting accomplice Dedrick Williams, as he speaks in court about an allegation that at least one juror saw Williams brought into court via the front entrance in shackles. This before the start of day two of closing arguments in the XXXTentacion murder trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, March 8, 2023. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

The internet buzzed with unsubstantiated conspiracies linking Drake to XXXTentacion’s slaying due to social media beef between the internationally acclaimed artist and the South Florida rapper. As it stands, no evidence has connected Drake to the murder other than him being added to the witness list in December, as first reported by the Miami Herald.

Padilla repeatedly attempted to get Drake to sit through a deposition in the case, an order that Judge Michael Usan threw out after the rapper’s lawyers argued his appearance would add “more layers of celebrity and notoriety to a tragic and unfortunate event.” Before closing arguments, Padilla filed a motion to recuse Usan and declare a mistrial, citing his inability to make his case without Drake’s testimony.

Mauricio Padilla pulls a box neatly wrapped as a giant present off of a smaller box that appears dirty and beaten up that he used as props during his closing argument on behalf of his client, suspected shooting accomplice Dedrick Williams, in the XXXTentacion murder trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Judge Michael Usan looks on. Padilla implied that the prosecution was presenting their case as the beautifully wrapped package but really, it was the dirty beaten up one. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

Aside from lambasting the state’s evidence, Padilla criticized Broward detectives’ investigation, alleging that they didn’t explore theories that conflicted with their narrative. He mentioned how Drake had been named in tips about the case provided to authorities but hadn’t been properly looked into.

“It highlights tunnel vision [by the police],” he said. “It really affected the investigation of this case.”

The main evidence against Newsome, Reres said, was Allen’s testimony. Reres claimed that Allen “changed his testimony to fit what the state wanted him to say” to reduce his time behind bars.

Trayvon Newsome is handcuffed after he was found guilty of first-degree murder of emerging rapper XXXTentacion at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, March 20, 2023. XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018.
Trayvon Newsome is handcuffed after he was found guilty of first-degree murder of emerging rapper XXXTentacion at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, March 20, 2023. XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018.

“All the physical evidence points against what Robert Allen said about Trayvon Newsome,” Reres said. “[The state] had nothing against Trayvon Newsome without it.”

Kimok said that unknown foreign DNA was found under XXXTentacion’s fingernails. But neither the rapper’s jean jacket or BMW was swabbed for DNA, he said.

Shooting suspect Michael Boatwright listens to his attorney Joseph Kimok after he was found guilty of first-degree murder of emerging rapper XXXTentacion at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, March 20, 2023. XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018.

“Someone else left that DNA underneath Jahseh Onfroy’s fingernails,” Kimok said. “Someone else’s DNA is on his neck. Someone else’s DNA is on the necklace.”

The verdict is in

Though much is unknown about how deliberations went, the 12 jurors asked to review surveillance footage and revisit text messages from the day of the murder.

Dedrick WilliamsTrayvon Newsome, left, and Michael Boatwright were found guilty of first-degree murder of emerging rapper XXXTentacion at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, March 20, 2023. XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018.
Dedrick WilliamsTrayvon Newsome, left, and Michael Boatwright were found guilty of first-degree murder of emerging rapper XXXTentacion at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, March 20, 2023. XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018.

On day eight, they pressed the buzzer twice and sealed the fates of Boatwright, Williams and Newsome. The three were convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.

As verdicts were read, Boatwright turned to the cameras and the rapper’s family. He then blew a kiss and smirked.

XXXTentacion’s mother, Cleopatra Bernard, strolled out of the courtroom Monday, sandwiched in a crowd of family members. She thanked her son’s fans and the thousands of people following the case.

Cleopatra Bernard, mother of slain rapper XXXTentacion leaves the courtroom after the 3 men who killed her son were found guilty of first-degree murder of the emerging rapper at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, March 20, 2023. XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018.

“Justice was done,” Bernard said.

Now what?

Defense lawyers haven’t indicated whether they plan to appeal, but the trio will be sentenced by Judge Usan on April 6. They face a mandatory sentence of life behind bars without parole, as Florida abolished parole in the ‘90s, a prosecutor told the Miami Herald Monday.

Judge Michael Usan watches as Mauricio Padilla, attorney of suspected shooting accomplice Dedrick Williams, gives his closing argument in the XXXTentacion murder trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. Emerging rapper XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, 20, was killed during a robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach in 2018 allegedly by defendants Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams.

Allen, who testified against his co-defendants, will be sentenced the week after, on April 12.