Defense attorneys representing three men accused of murdering XXXTentacion have suggested that Canadian rapper Drake might be linked to the 2018 killing, on the opening day of the trial.
XXXTentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, was shot and killed on June 18, 2018, aged 20, after he was ambushed during an apparent robbery as he was leaving a motorsports store in Deerfield.
Michael Boatwright, 28, is accused of being the shooter, while his friend, Trayon Newsome, 24, is accused of being the other gunman. Dedrick Williams, 26, is accused of being the driver.
They could all receive life sentences if convicted of first-degree murder.
A fourth man who prosecutors say was in the SUV, 26-year-old Robert Allen, pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder and is set to testify against his former friends at the trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The New York Post reports the defendants’ defense team have argued investigators did not investigate XXXTentacion’s feud with Drake, which boiled over when the Sad! hitmaker wrote on social media in March 2018: ‘If anyone tries to kill me, it was @champagnepapi. I’m snitching right now’.
He would later retract that statement and claim his account had been hacked.
Another rapper had also made threats against XXXTentacion. Defense attorneys said that with the rapper’s slaying coming just four months after the slaying of 17 people at nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the Broward Sheriff’s Office was under extreme political pressure to solve the case quickly, per DailyMail.
‘For Broward County, for everyone involved, this was a nightmare’ said Mauricio Padilla, Williams’ attorney.
That’s why they wanted no part with investigating a celebrity, he said.
Prosecutors say there is no evidence linking Drake to the shooting, and Williams is clearly seen in the store’s surveillance video, recognizable through his distinctive facial tattoos.
He was also identified by one of the clerks. Padilla conceded Williams was present in the store but didn’t say how he would explain that.