On Wednesday, rapper Yella Beezy was convicted of hiring the shooter responsible for the fatal shooting of rapper MO3 during a bold daytime assault on a crowded Dallas interstate in 2020.
The 35-year-old, whose birth name is Markies Conway, received a unanimous capital murder verdict from a Dallas County jury concerning the death of MO3, born Melvin Noble. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment without the chance for parole.
In a separate trial in September, Kewon White was found guilty of capital murder for the shooting death of Noble and was also sentenced to life in prison without parole.
According to prosecutors, the murder stemmed from a longstanding feud between Conway and Noble, both of whom resided in Dallas.
Lead prosecutor Tommy Adams expressed gratitude for the verdict, stating, “We don’t know what influenced the jurors… but we believe they arrived at the correct decision today.”
He further remarked, “This has been one of the most complex cases we’ve encountered in the last six years.”
Conway gained fame for his 2017 hit That’s On Me, as well as the 2019 track Bacc At It Again, featuring Quavo and Gucci Mane.
Noble had over 800,000 followers on Instagram and was particularly recognized for a 2019 remix of Errybody alongside Baton Rouge rapper Boosie Badazz.
Speculation of revenge following earlier shooting
On November 11, 2020, at approximately noon, 28-year-old Noble was driving on Interstate 35 in south Dallas when White reportedly pulled up beside him and exited his vehicle with a firearm.
Authorities stated that Noble exited his car and began fleeing down the freeway as White opened fire.
MO3 is shown at a BET Awards event in Los Angeles on June 23, 2018, just over two years before he was shot. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for BET)
Adams noted that White donned a mask and discharged over 40 rounds from an AK-47-style weapon while pursuing Noble.
As reported by police, White struck both Noble and a bystander who was in a nearby car. The bystander survived, but Noble succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.
Prosecutors asserted that Conway compensated White with $40,000 for the shooting.
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During the closing statements, prosecutors presented jurors with a video clip of Conway discussing revenge in an interview, in which he mentioned he would “get his lick back.” Prosecutor Krystal Biggins drew parallels between Noble’s murder and a shooting incident that injured Conway in 2018.
In October 2018, Conway was shot while driving on a tollway in Lewisville, a Dallas suburb, when an assailant pulled alongside him and opened fire, hitting him three times.
“This was for everyone to witness,” Biggins remarked. “Over a rap feud, we are here for capital murder.”
The defense contended that the prosecution failed to substantiate their case. “This is capital murder, and the state has presented you with a lot of conjecture,” said defense attorney John Gussio.