A fourth defendant in the killing of XXXTentacion, Robert Allen, took the stand as a state’s witness in court on Wednesday. Allen previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is now working with the prosecution. Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams, and Trayvon Newsome have been charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery regarding X’s death. The group faces up to life in prison if convicted.
During his testimony, Allen claimed that Michael Boatwright was the one to fire the gun. He confirmed that Boatwright fired at “Triple X.” Allen also denied being hired by anyone to commit the robbery. He added that Boatwright and Newsome were hesitant to go ahead with the crime, but Williams peer-pressured them by making fun of them for being scared.
Robert Allen’s Testimony
Earlier in the trial, XXXTentacion’s uncle, Leonard Kerr, detailed the day of the shooting from his perspective. Kerr was in the passenger seat of X’s car while they left RIVA Motorsports in Deerfield Beach, Florida at the time of the shooting. Surveillance footage from the time shows Kerr fleeing as the robbery goes down.
“We get in the car to drive out. At the exit, when we pull out, we stop,” Kerr said, recalling the moment on the stand. “[XXXTentacion] looked to the left. I looked to the right. By the time [XXXTentacion] looked to the left, I see a car coming down the block and blocked the entrance. After the car pulled by the entrance, two persons jump out the side doors. One come on Jahseh side, one come on the side that I’m on. The taller one do like this, ‘You don’t come out of the fucking car.’ The other one was at Jahseh’s side…He was saying, ‘Give me the chain. Where’s the chain?’”
As for the three remaining defendants’ defense, their lawyers recently claimed that Drake may have actually been involved in the 2018 slaying. They explained that investigators never looked into X’s previous feud with Drake prior to his death. X once tweeted, “If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi,” but later claimed to have been hacked.
[Via]