Prosecutor calls XXXTentacion's alleged killers 'predators'

A Florida prosecutor told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday that three men on trial for the 2018 slaying of rapper XXXTentacion were 'predators' who waited outside a motorcycle shop to rob and shoot the rising star, escaping with US$50,000.

A Florida prosecutor told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday that three men on trial for the 2018 slaying of rapper XXXTentacion were "predators" who waited outside a motorcycle shop to rob and shoot the rising star, escaping with US$50,000.

Prosecutor Pascale Achille played cellphone videos the defendants allegedly took hours after the killing that showed them smiling and dancing as they flashed handfuls of US$100 bills. Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams and Trayvon Newsome are all charged with first-degree murder and face mandatory life sentences if convicted.

"This is who they are. This is their real character. Killers that within 24 hours after shooting the victim dead and stealing (US)$50,000 from him, this is what they do," Achille told the jury as she played the video. "Look at how happy they look. Look at how excited they look."

She also played surveillance video from the motorcycle shop and from where two of them allegedly stashed an SUV that she says link the men to the killing. And she recounted statements from a fourth man, Robert Allen, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last year and testified against his former friends.

George Reres, Newsome's attorney, implored the jury not to convict his client based on Allen's testimony or evidence implicating the other two defendants, saying, "He was not there." He said that Allen, a 12-time convicted felon, should not be believed and that Newsome's DNA was not found on any evidence.

He told jurors they should not believe Newsome is guilty simply because of the video showing him flashing money with the others, arguing he may not have even known where they got it.

"He did some stupid things -- he posed with some money," Reres said. "Guilt by association is not something the law permits."