A man who prosecutors allege was hired by Dallas-area rapper Yella Beezy to kill another local rapper over a violent, years-long beef was found guilty Friday of capital murder.
State District Judge Chika Anyiam sentenced 27-year-old Kewon White to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the jury’s verdict was announced late Friday. The term was the only option available under Texas law after the Dallas County district attorney’s office chose not to seek a death sentence.
Melvin Noble, also known as MO3, was gunned down Nov. 11, 2020, during a daytime ambush on Interstate 35, near the exit for the Dallas Zoo. The 28-year-old rapper was struck 13 times and pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.
Surveillance footage obtained from a dashboard-mounted camera on a nearby Kroger delivery truck captured the moment when Noble stopped his sedan in the middle of the highway, got out, and was chased into oncoming traffic by a gunman wearing a ski mask and carrying an assault-style rifle.
White was charged a few weeks later, after police released screenshots from the delivery truck footage showing the gunman. Conway wasn’t charged until last year, when a grand jury indicted him on a capital murder charge.
Also charged in the case are two men affiliated with White and Conway: Devin Brown and Jerry Johnson. White was the first of the defendants to be tried. Trial dates for the others have not been set.
White’s defense team surprised many during closing arguments Friday when they suggested their client might be guilty of murder, just not capital murder. If convicted of murder, White would have faced a potential life sentence, but would still be eligible for parole.
Related: Lawyers for Dallas rapper Yella Beezy seek to keep violent lyrics out of upcoming murder trial
At the end of their arguments, defense lawyers Myra McIntosh and Bree West asked the jury to find their client not guilty of capital murder, but didn’t address whether they should convict him of murder. In order to be convicted of the higher offense, the state would have to prove Conway was either paid for the killing or was promised payment.
Lead prosecutor Tommy Adams argued the evidence showing Conway paid for the murder was overwhelming.
Conway viewed White as someone who was “expendable” and “disposable,” Adams said. The rapper was in Los Angeles when Noble was killed and had booked a 27-day stay. Then he came back to the Dallas area in the middle of it after White started complaining about not getting paid and the same thing that happened to Noble “will happen to other people.”
Conway arrived back in the Dallas area Nov. 20 and immediately withdrew $40,000 from his bank, Adams said.
FBI Special Agent Taylor Page testified Friday about the extensive evidence he was able to piece together about the movements and communications between the defendants by looking at their cell phone records.
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This article originally published at Gunman in brazen highway slaying of Dallas rapper MO3 found guilty of capital murder.