On the afternoon of June 18, 2018, up-and-coming 20-year-old hip-hop artist XXXTentacion was murdered in an attempted robbery just outside Riva Motorsports, an upscale motorcycle shop in Deerfield Beach, Florida. XXXTentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, was shot multiple times in the neck and was in critical condition before being pronounced dead. Now, three Florida men have been found guilty of his murder. 

On March 20, Dedrick Williams, 26, Trayvon Newsome, 24, and Michael Boatwright, 28, were convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery, The New York Post reported. A Broward County, Florida, jury deliberated for more than seven days before issuing a decision. The men will all be sentenced to life in prison due to Florida law.

The trio robbed XXXTentacion of $50,000 and later took videos flashing the stolen cash.

XXXTentacion had just exited Riva Motorsports when an SUV swerved in front of his car and blocked him. The street security footage shows him being confronted by two masked gunmen, one of whom was Boatwright, who shot him multiple times. The men grabbed his Louis Vuitton bag, which was full of money, from inside his car and sped away.

Robert Allen, a fourth man involved in the robbery, pleaded guilty in 2022 to second-degree murder. Allen was inside the getaway car while the killing happened. He testified against the three other defendants and has yet to be sentenced.

Allen told jurors that killing XXXTentacion was not planned. The four men had planned to steal from someone that day and had been headed to the motorcycle shop to purchase Williams a mask when they saw XXXTentacion and decided to rob him.

Defense attorneys had tried to spin a story that authorities failed to look at other suspects, including hip-hop star Drake because he had a feud with XXXTentacion.

Among the evidence prosecutors presented were text messages from the suspects. Shortly after the murder, Boatwright sent a text to someone that read, “Tell my brother I got the money for the new phone,” along with a screenshot of a story saying the XXXTentacion had been shot.  

He could get anywhere between time served, meaning he could soon be released, and life, depending partly on how prosecutors perceive his assistance, Fox 13 News reported.

This combo of photos provided by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office shows, from left, Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, and Trayvon Newsome. A Florida jury has convicted the three men of murder in the 2018 killing of star rapper XXXTentacion, who was shot during a robbery that netted $50,000. The jury deliberated a little more than seven days before finding Boatwright, Williams and Newsome guilty on Monday, March 20, 2023 of first-degree murder and armed robbery. (Broward County Sheriff’s Office via AP)