Rapper Tay-K Sentenced to 55 Years for Murder After 21-Year-Old Man Was Killed During Home Invasion
Rapper Tay-K has been sentenced to 55 years in prison for murder.
Tay-K, whose real name is Taymore McIntyre, appeared in court on Tuesday where he was also fined $10,000, according to Fort Worth Star-Telegram, for his involvement in a home invasion and robbery in Mansfield, Texas that resulted in the death of 21-year-old Ethan Walker in 2016.
In addition, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $5,000 fine on one count of aggravated robbery and to 13 years in prison and a $3,000 fine for two other counts of aggravated robbery related to the home invasion, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and WFAA reported. The sentences will run concurrently.
Tay-K will have to serve at least half of the 55-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Although Tay-K did not pull the trigger, prosecutors argued that he was just as responsible considering he knew the plan to steal drugs and money from the house where Walker was, CBS Dallas-Forth Worth reported. Prosecutors said Tay-K also knew the incident could end with someone being shot.
Walker was fatally shot in the stomach after he told the group of robbers, including Tay-K, that he didn’t have any drugs or money, according to CBS Dallas-Forth Worth. Walker’s roommate Zachary Beloate was wounded but survived.
At the time of the incident, Tay-K was just 16 and he, along with six other people were arrested in July 2016 on capital murder charges.
He was later placed on house arrest until his hearings. However, before that, he cut off his ankle monitor and went on the run in 2017, CBS Dallas-Forth Worth reported.
As a fugitive, he released “The Race,” on which he raps “F— a beat, I was tryna beat a case / But I ain’t beat that case, bitch I did the race (skrt, skirt).”
The music video for the track shows Tay-K posing next to a wanted poster of himself.
The song debuted at No. 70 the Billboard Hot 100 chart and received nods from many artists, including Travis Scott, who tweeted, “DO THE DASH THEN GO OUT THE WAY,” quoting the lyrics.
Also while on the lam, Tay-K allegedly robbed and fatally shot 23-year-old Mark Saldivar at a Chick-fil-A in San Antonio on April 23, 2017, Forth Worth Star-Telegram reported. Tay-K is facing a second capital murder charge for the 2017 shooting in Bexar County, Texas, Complex reported.
He was eventually captured on June 30 in 2017 in New Jersey and was brought back to Forth Worth, Forth Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Last week, Tay-K pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated robbery related to two other victims inside the house.
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Tay-K had previously pleaded not guilty to capital murder.
“It wasn’t part of the plan. The robbery was. Not killing,” Tay-K’s defense attorney Jeff Kearney told the jury, according to Forth Worth Star-Telegram.
Kearney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
During his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Walker’s father Richard Walker took the stand to thank jurors, Forth Worth Star-Telegram.
“I have tried to live a good life and I know hate is a very negative emotion but right now there are three people I hate,” Richard said to the court, Forth Worth Star-Telegram reported. “One is the planner, one is the person who pulled the trigger and one is the person who profited off of this and saw this as a career move.”
“Every lyric to ‘The Race’ is stained with my son’s blood. Every ‘free Tay-K’ T-shirt that was ever sold has my son’s blood on it,” he said, according to Forth Worth Star-Telegram.
Richard then addressed Tay-K.
“You’re still here. My son is gone. He’s a box of ashes sitting in my living room,” he said, according to the outlet.
A 15-year-old girl has been accused of devising the plan. Earlier this week, her friends testified that she reached out to Tay-K in hopes that he could get guns for the robbery, according to CBS Dallas-Forth Worth.
Tay-K allegedly told her he did not have guns, but his friends did and he knew someone in particular who was “trigger happy.”
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