XXXTentacion was fatally shot outside a motorcycle dealership in Florida over five years ago. His team has posthumously produced a number of albums and a documentary in the years since his death. His music is still played by his followers, who cherish his artistic talent. However, his name is no longer only mentioned in memoriam.
Opening arguments in XXXTentacion’s murder trial against suspects Trayvon Newsome, Dedrick Williams, and Michael Boatwright took place on February 7 in the Broward County Courthouse. The most startling revelation from the opening day of the trial was the naming of Drake as a potential suspect. Jurors heard testimony from all sides of the issue.
Interestingly, there is history between XXXTentacion and Drake. Therefore, in order to provide more context for the trial, we have outlined below why Drake’s name was brought up during the murder trial of XXXTentacion.
Why is there a trial?
The rapper XXXTentacion, whose true name is Jahseh Onfroy, was killed in 2018; the trial is related to his death. On June 18, 2018, an approaching SUV stopped XXXTentacion’s BMW as it was leaving the RIVA Motorsports showroom in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Then, X was shot dead by two masked assailants who had approached him. The rapper’s personal items, including a Louis Vuitton bag that had $50,000 in cash, were stolen by the assailants, who were seen fleeing the scene in the SUV. Shortly after, XXXTentacion was declared deceased in the hospital. He passed away when he was 20 years old.
Who is a defendant?
Four suspects—Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, Robert Allen, and Trayvon Newsome—were detained and charged with first-degree murder, robbery, and firearm charges in the days and weeks after the shooting in August 2018, two months after XXXTentacion’s passing. Following a car chase, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office detained Dedrick Williams on June 20, 2018. According to surveillance footage from RIVA and recent images from Williams’ Instagram, the outfit Williams was wearing on June 18—which included orange shoes and a white tank top—was the same one that police stated Williams was wearing today. Employees who witnessed him enter RIVA to purchase a neoprene mask also recognized him. Robert Allen was taken into custody one week later.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office detained Michael Boatwright on July 5 on unrelated drug-related allegations. Later, the police said that Boatwright had used the search browser on his phone to look for “accessory to murder” and “XXXTentacion.” The most recent arrest was of Trayvon Newsome. Allen agreed to a second-degree murder plea bargain in August 2018 in exchange for providing evidence against the other three defendants. In the ongoing trial, only Boatwright, Williams, and Newsome are listed as defendants.
What is Drake’s connection to this?
On February 7, during the defense’s opening arguments, Mauricio Padilla, Williams’ attorney, offered a different scenario involving international superstar Drake. In support of his claim, he cited a previous Instagram story that has since been deleted in which XXXTentacion stated, “If someone kills me, it’s Drake.” After learning of X’s earlier assertion, Padilla claims that prosecutors never conducted a thorough investigation into Drake as a suspect or person of interest. “Do you suppose for a second that he was slain by two masked men right here today, days after the event?” The lawyer asked questions. Do you believe that they spoke to him and handled other matters during that time? No.
Do you believe that any detective has ever asked Drake or someone similar while you’ve been sitting here for years? No. That was never done. You best believe that if any of us were implicated in a murder and someone claimed, “It’s so-and-so,” that person would be subject to an investigation. However, they chose not to in this instance. In addition, Padilla claimed that Drake was not subject to a thorough investigation because of his notoriety, wealth, and power. He said, “This is one of the biggest celebrities in the world. We all understand that I will never be able to take his deposition absent a court order.
The alleged conflict between X and Drake began in 2017, at a tour stop in Amsterdam, when Drake gave a sneak peek of a brand-new song. The new song was compared to X’s hit track “Look At Me” by some concertgoers. Drake, who has in the past been accused of “biting” the sounds of other musicians, has refuted all charges. Later, XXXtentacion replied with a string of irate tweets. The dispute was never resolved in public. To be clear, neither Drake nor the case against him are under investigation, but by bringing up the rapper, Padilla is presenting someone other than his client to cast reasonable doubt on the case.
Who else was brought up in the trial?
Padilla named other well-known artists in court besides Drake. Additionally, the attorney mentioned “the problems [XXXTentacion] has with Drake and Migos.” Padilla seems to be alluding to the same 2017 incident that got things started when Drake previewed new music at a concert in 2017. Following X’s tirade on Twitter, Offset of the Migos reacted by calling X “unheard of.”
The situation became ugly in November 2017 as X accused Migos of jumping him in Los Angeles. Following the alleged altercation, he posted a now-deleted video on social media, asking, “After all the trash I’ve been spewing, how the fuck you ain’t shoot me? Offset feared engaging in a one-on-one battle with me. These niggas were too afraid to challenge me! You guys look like 35! I’m not upset that 35-year-olds are afraid to fight me.
What are the trial’s other defense lawyers saying?
Boatwright’s attorney, Joseph Kimok, has accused another shooter—a non-celebrity—who was a friend of Williams and whom he had been observed conversing with inside the motorsports shop soon before the shooting. Kimok added that the proof will demonstrate that Boatwright was at home dozing off when the crime was committed.
What are the prosecution’s claims?
The Drake or Migos approach is not being accepted by prosecutors. All four suspects, according to prosecutor Pascale Achille, planned to rob people that day. The same luxury bag that was stolen at the time of the shooting is seen being filled with a sizable amount of cash by XXXTentacion in new surveillance footage from a Florida bank that was viewed in court. Cellphone records and CCTV footage link the accused trio to the murder. The fourth suspect, Robert Allen, who accepted a plea deal, will also testify against them.
How long do they have left?
If found guilty of first-degree murder, Boatwright, Williams, and Newsome would all be sentenced to life in prison.
