Convicted Murderer of Caribbean Roots Rapper XXXtentacion Seeks A New Trial

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. April 12, 2023: Trayvon Newsome, one of the individuals who received a life sentence for the murder of Caribbean roots rapper, XXXtentacion, is now seeking a new trial. According to AllHipHop, Newsome argued that the court made several errors during his trial, which he underwent alongside co-defendants Michael Boatwright and Dedrick Williams.

Newsome claimed that the evidence did not support the verdict, and he suggested that the conviction was unlawful. Additionally, he accused the judge of acting erroneously by overruling defense objections and sustaining state objections.

Newsome further alleged that the court’s directions to lessen the impact of prejudicial evidence given to the jury were unsatisfactory. His defense team stated that the court’s decision to deny the motion to separate defendants also made it harder for him to receive a fair trial. Previously, Williams’ defense team attempted to implicate Drake in the trial, claiming that the rapper put a hit on X due to past issues between them.

The defense cited lyrics from Drake’s songs, including “On BS” and “I’m Upset,” to support their claim. They suggested that the feud between the two artists began when X accused Drake of stealing his flow on the 2017 track “KMT.” Despite the defense team’s efforts, the court found all three suspects guilty of the crime and sentenced them to life in prison.

XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, was shot and killed outside a Florida motorcycle dealership in June 2018.

Onfroy was born in Plantation to Jamaican immigrant parents Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy and Cleopatra Bernard, and raised in Lauderhill, Florida. He has three siblings with one being half, shared paternally.  When Onfroy was six years old, he stabbed a man attempting to attack his mother and was eventually put into a youth program before being forced to live with his grandmother.

Onfroy rose to fame while posting raps online from his bedroom on the audio distribution platform SoundCloud in June 2013. Onfroy released his debut album, 17, on August 25, 2017. In March 2018 he released his second album. His singles “Sad!” and “Changes” peaked at 7 and 37, respectively the Billboard Hot 100.