Florida prosecutor Pascale Achille called the alleged killers of XXXTentacion “predators” during closing arguments to the jury on Tuesday. In doing so, she played cellphone videos that showed the defendants smiling and dancing just hours after the murder as they flashed $100 bills for the camera. The three men are co-defendants Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, and Trayvon Newsome. They are all charged with first-degree murder and face mandatory life sentences if convicted.
“This is who they are. This is their real character. Killers that within 24 hours after shooting the victim dead and stealing $50,000 from him, this is what they do,” Achille told the jury as she played the video. “Look at how happy they look. Look at how excited they look.”
XXXTentacion Tribute In L.A.
In the trial, Boatwright, 28, is accused of being the shooter, while Newsome, 24, is accused of being a separate gunman. Williams, 26, is accused of being the driver for the crime. A fourth suspect, Robert Allen, 26, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, last year, and testified against the three men.
One of the strategies defense attorneys tried to use was to pin the killing on Drake. Attorney Mauricio Padilla cited an Instagram post from XXXTentacion in which he claimed, “If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi [Drake]. I’m snitching RN.” X later quickly deleted the post and retracted the statement, claiming his account had been hacked. “Before X died, he said, ‘If anybody kills me, it’s Drake.’ Do you think sitting here years later, any detective has ever asked Drake or anybody like that? No,” Padilla argued, according to Complex. “This is one of the biggest celebrities in the world. Excluding an order from this court, we all know that I will never be able to take his deposition.” Attorneys eventually got a deposition scheduled for Drake on February 24, but the Toronto rapper ended up being able to get out of it.
[Via]