Texas rapper Tay-K was sentenced to 55 years in prison and a $21,000 fine on July 23 on a murder charge for a 2016 robbery that left one man dead, according to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.
The Tarrant County jury also sentenced Tay-K, whose legal name is Taymor McIntyre, to 30 years in prison on one count of aggravated robbery and 13 years for each of the remaining two counts of aggravated robbery
The sentences will run concurrently, a court clerk said.
The 19-year-old was found guilty of murder last week in the death of a 21-year-old father in the incident. Tay-K was one of seven defendants, CNN affiliate KTVT reported. The other six either were found guilty or reached plea deals, according to KTVT.
According to witness testimony, Tay-K was part of a plan to steal drugs and money from the victim’s home in Mansfield, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, KTVT reported.
The victim, Ethan Walker, didn’t have the drugs or money the robbers were after, the witnesses said, according to KTVT. Walker’s girlfriend testified that he was shot while his hands were in the air.
Tay-K’s attorneys argued that he wasn’t the person who fired the gun and so shouldn’t have been found guilty, according to KTVT. Prosecutors said Tay-K knew that the plan was to rob Walker.
Tay-K gained notoriety in 2017 when he cut off his ankle bracelet and fled house arrest. He released a song called “The Race,” which now has more than 174 million views on YouTube. The video shows Tay-K posing next to a wanted poster of himself.
Tay-K was captured in New Jersey after three months on the run, KTVT reported.
In rapper news, a Maryland rapper was shot and killed in Annapolis over the weekend.
Officers received a call about shots fired and found a single-vehicle crashed at the scene Saturday. The only occupant of that vehicle, Edward Montre Seay, 32, of Chester, died from gunshot wounds, police said.
Rapper. Father. Community leader. Annapolis remembers Tre Da Kid, who was shot fatally on National Gun Violence Awareness Day. https://t.co/539Z9K8MJD
— Lauren Lumpkin (@laurenmlumpkin) June 8, 2019
Seay was also a rapper who went by the stage name Tre Da Kid, said Sgt. Amy Miguez of Annapolis police. He gained national attention in 2016 after winning Verizon’s #Freestyle50 rap contest.
According to Verizon’s website, he won $10,000 and a deal with hip-hop label 300 Entertainment.
Rapper Tre Da Kid, 32, is found dead one hour before he was scheduled to perform https://t.co/Gjq0EOpEPi
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) June 9, 2019
“Tre impressed the judges with his delivery, showmanship, and off-the-dome creativity,” Kevin Liles, co-founder of 300 Entertainment, said at the time.
The single from his victory was called “Run It,” and was released in 2017.
“This is seriously a dream come true,” he told Verizon at the time. Verizon said Seay started rapping at age 6, and was also a finalist in a BET freestyle competition in 2011.
Maryland Pastor Steve Poole wrote on Twitter: “Praying for the family and several of our church members who knew TreDaKid personally. This breaks my heart. This happened just minutes after we passed that location on our way home.”
Praying for the family and several of our church members who knew TreDaKid personally. This breaks my heart. This happened just minutes after we passed that location on our way home. https://t.co/U35m6ScJQT
— Steve Poole (@poolehall) June 8, 2019
