Guilty: Yella Beezy Sentenced to Life Without Parole for Mo3’s Murder — Six Years to the Day

A Dallas jury has found Yella Beezy guilty of capital murder in the 2020 killing of fellow rapper Mo3 — and the verdict came down exactly six years to the day Mo3 lost his life.

On Wednesday, November 11, after about two weeks of testimony and roughly three and a half hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Beezy, whose real name is Markies Conway, of capital murder by remuneration. Judge Chika Anyiam sentenced the 35-year-old to life in prison without the possibility of parole immediately after the verdict was read. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, so the life sentence was automatic once the jury returned its guilty verdict.

Mo3 — real name Melvin Noble — was just 28 when he was shot 11 times on Interstate 35 in Dallas on November 11, 2020, in broad daylight. Prosecutors told jurors that Beezy paid gunman Kewon White $40,000 to carry out the killing after a feud between the two Dallas rappers that had stretched on for years. White was convicted of capital murder in September and is also serving life without parole. A third defendant, Devin Brown, is still scheduled to face trial later this month.

The courtroom was emotional as the verdict came in. According to reports from inside, plenty of people were in tears — including Beezy’s young son — and the prosecutor announced there would be no victim impact statements. Beezy appeared stoic as the sentence was handed down, and he had pleaded not guilty throughout the trial, denying any involvement in the murder-for-hire plot.

The trial itself was full of dramatic turns. Closing arguments on Tuesday saw prosecutors rap lyrics from Beezy’s own songs in court, arguing they showed his role in the feud and his willingness to pay for a killing. On the defense side, Beezy’s childhood friend Theodore Thomas — rapper Jose Bodega — repeatedly pleaded the Fifth on the witness stand, then later testified that he had lied in his grand jury testimony. Another witness, Cedric Bradley, told the jury that White had confessed to the shooting and was angry about not being paid as promised, though he did not name Beezy as the person behind the payment. Prosecutors also played an old VladTV interview in which Beezy vowed retaliation after being shot in 2015.

Beezy’s legal team is expected to appeal. His attorney, Toby Shook, told reporters outside the courthouse that the case has appealable issues. For now, though, the verdict closes one of hip-hop’s most closely watched murder trials — six years after a Dallas freeway shooting that shocked the rap world.

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Source: TMZ, XXL and HotNewHipHop