Drake will be declared later this month in connection with the murder of rapper XXXTentacion in 2018.
XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was shot to death on June 18, 2018 at the age of 20, after being ambushed during an apparent robbery as he was leaving a motorsports shop in Deerfield.
On the opening day of the trial, defense attorneys representing three men accused of murdering XXXTentacion suggested that Drake might be connected to the murder.
Prosecutors said there was no evidence connecting Drake to the shooting, but TMZ reports that one of the defense attorneys convinced the judge to depose the superstar.
Although the deposition was previously scheduled for January 27, Drake allegedly missed the date and is now due to answer questions on Zoom on February 24.
Answering questions: Drake (left) will be declared later this month in connection with the 2018 murder of rapper XXXTentacion (right)
If you do not attend, you must appear in person in court on February 27. If you don’t, you could face a contempt charge.
Michael Boatwright, 28, is accused of being the shooter, while his friend, Trayon Newsome, 24, is accused of being the other shooter. Dedrick Williams, 26, is accused of being the driver. All could receive life sentences if convicted of first degree murder.
A fourth man prosecutors say was in the van, 26-year-old Robert Allen, pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder and will testify against his former friends in the trial at Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. .
the new york post office reports that the defendants’ defense team has argued that investigators failed to investigate XXXTentacion’s feud with Drake, which boiled over when the Sad! hitmaker wrote on social media in March 2018: “If anyone tries to kill me, it’s @champagnepapi.” I’m snitching right now.
He would later retract that statement and claim that his account had been hacked.
Drake’s representative declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com.
Another rapper had also made threats against XXXTentacion.
Defense attorneys said that with the rapper’s murder just four months after the slaying of 17 people at the nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the Broward sheriff’s office was under extreme political pressure to resolve the case quickly.
Final image: XXXTentacion, whose real name is Jahseh Onfroy, was shot to death on June 18, 2018 at age 20, after being ambushed during an apparent robbery as he was leaving a motorsports shop in Deerfield.
“For Broward County, for everyone involved, this was a nightmare,” said Mauricio Padilla, Williams’ attorney.
That’s why they didn’t want to be involved in the investigation of a celebrity, he said.
Prosecutors say there is no evidence linking Drake to the shooting, and Williams is clearly seen on the store’s surveillance video, recognizable through his distinctive facial tattoos. He was also identified by one of the employees. Padilla admitted that Williams was present at the store, but did not say how he would explain that.
Prosecutor Pascale Achille told jurors that Boatwright, Newsome, Williams and Allen were out that day to commit armed robberies. Allen and Williams went into the motorcycle shop to buy masks, she said.
There, they encountered XXXTentacion, who, according to witness Leonard Kerr, had the $50,000 he had just received from the bank hanging from his bag.
Michael Boatwright, 28, is accused of being the shooter – in the center of the photo with his lawyers
The couple recognized him and the group seized the opportunity and decided to rob him as he was leaving, Achille said. Boatwright shot him multiple times “without any provocation,” he said.
To varying degrees, the defendants are connected to the shooting from surveillance video and cell phone locations, and all are implicated through expected testimony from Allen, Achille said. Then there are photos on social media of some of the men showing off the money posted that night, he said.
“They go on social media and start bragging that they have this influx of cash,” Achille said. They show it like it’s Christmas day.
Joseph Kimok, Boatwright’s lawyer, also pointed the finger at a third man as the possible shooter: A friend of Williams was seen talking inside the motorcycle shop just before the shooting who has the same build as his client.
He hinted that the friend might have gotten into the van Williams was driving out of view of surveillance cameras. He said the evidence will show that Boatwright was asleep in the house he shared with his grandmother at the time of the shooting.
“At no point (in the surveillance video) will you see Mr. Boatwright, because he wasn’t there,” Kimok said.
Alleged shooting accomplice Trayvon Newsome, left, and shooting suspect Michael Boatwright enter the courtroom for opening statements in the XXXTentacion murder trial.
The alleged accessory to the shooting, Dedrick Williams, is shown at the defense table just before opening statements in the XXXTentacion murder trial
Yes, a cell phone linked to him was near the store, but that was a community phone used by several men, he said. And yes, he “posed very stupidly” with money that night, but that money was Allen’s, not Boatwright’s, Kimok said.
Newsome’s attorney also denied that his client was present.
XXXTentacion was pronounced dead at a local hospital after he was left with multiple gunshot wounds from the shooting.
After the fatal shooting, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office tweeted: “Adult male victim has been confirmed to be 20-year-old Jahseh Onfroy aka rapper XXXTentacion.”
The Victim was a platinum-selling rising star who addressed issues like prejudice and depression in his songs. He also received criticism for his misbehavior and multiple arrests, including charges that he severely beat and abused his girlfriend.
The controversial rapper had been told he was going to be a father a few weeks before he was killed.
Leonard Kerr makes a gesture like he’s holding a gun while demonstrating how a man ordered him at gunpoint not to get out of the car he was in with emerging rapper XXXTentacion
A family friend of the rapper also broke down Tuesday when he told jurors how he and the rapper were ambushed by armed robbers as they walked away from the motorcycle shop, how he fled in fear and then heard the gunshots that killed the star. rising.
Kerr’s testimony saw him describe how XXXTentacion’s BMW sports car was blocked by an SUV as Kerr and the rapper were leaving the Riva Motorsports parking lot near Fort Lauderdale.
Two men jumped out with weapons, Kerr said. He said the taller man pointed his gun at him and told him not to get out of the car, punctuating his order with a curse word.
The other man was trying to remove the rapper’s gold chain from his neck. Kerr said that he could hear XXXTentacion asking, ‘What is this for?’ At that point, Kerr said, he decided to escape, pressing the button that opened the passenger door.
‘If I run, they can shoot me, but I can live. If I feel…’ Kerr said, his voice trailing off until he paused to regain his composure.
Kerr said that when he looked back, the taller man was pointing his gun at XXXTentacion, and he said that he heard at least two loud explosions. The men then returned to the van and sped off, taking with them the $50,000 the rapper had in his designer bag.