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Hours before they allegedly gunned down Miami rapper XXXTentacion on June 18, 2018, Robert Allen, Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams planned a mission for that day.
"What area are we going to rob people," was the question, as Allen testified on February 8, his first day on the witness stand as the murder trial of his three former cohorts commenced last week in a Broward County courtroom.
The four men, at the time in their early 20s, were armed, Allen recollected. He, Newsome, and Williams carried revolvers. Boatwright was strapped with a .22-caliber rifle. But Williams needed a mask. So they piled into a rented black Dodge Journey SUV and headed to Reva Motorsports in Deerfield Beach, where he could buy one, Allen told jurors.
Williams was pulling into the motorbike shop's parking lot when he noticed XXXTentacion climbing out of his BMW sports car and walking into Reva. He showed Allen, Boatwright, and Newsome an Instagram photo of XXXTentacion alongside the same BMW, Allen testified, adding, "He wanted to rob [XXXTentacion]."
Later that afternoon, surveillance video footage from Reva captured two masked men emerging from the black Dodge, which was blocking the BMW as XXXTentacion pulled out of the parking lot. After a passenger and family friend, Leonard Kerr, jumped out of the BMW, one of the gunmen shot XXXTentacion, as the other robber grabbed a Louis Vuitton satchel stuffed with $50,000 in hundred-dollar bills.
Emergency personnel transported XXXTentacion (real name Jahseh Onfroy) to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. At the time, the 20-year-old hip-hop artist was among an emerging genre of "emo" rappers gaining fame and notoriety — a meteoric career rise New Times extensively covered from when the rapper emerged on the scene in 2016. When he died, XXX was facing criminal charges of domestic violence and witness tampering resulting from violent attacks alleged by his then-pregnant ex-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala.
The Drake Defense?
State prosecutors hope Allen's testimony will persuade the jury that his confession corroborates a mountain of digital evidence pointing to him, Boatwright, Newsome, and Williams as carrying out the botched robbery-turned-homicide."Robert Allen will tell you what the purpose was and why they were all together," Broward Assistant State Attorney Pascale Achille told jurors during her opening statement on February 6. "Their plan was to rob somebody that day, and they had all the things in preparation for that."
Allen is set to begin his fourth day of testimony on February 13. Other witnesses scheduled to appear in the coming weeks include homicide detectives; forensic and cellphone experts; XXXTentacion's mother, Cleopatra Bernard; and, possibly, Canadian hip-hop megastar Drake.
Last week, Circuit Judge Michael Usan, who is presiding over the trial, signed an order compelling Drake to sit for a February 24 deposition by Williams' defense lawyer, Mauricio Padilla. If Drake fails to comply, he'll have to appear in Usan's courtroom and explain why.
Padilla has posited the theory that homicide investigators failed to explore other possible suspects with whom XXXTentacion allegedly had beef. In addition to Drake, Padilla's witness list includes rappers Tekashi 6ix9ine, Joe Budden, and members of Atlanta-based Migos: Offset, Quavo, and the late Takeoff, who was murdered in Houston last year in an unrelated incident.
During his opening argument, Padilla worked his defense angle for the jury: "Do you think... any detective has ever asked Drake or anybody like that? No, they never did that."
The trial is expected to extend into next month.
Allen Turns on His Boys
For three days beginning Wednesday, February 8, Allen was subjected to a methodical direct examination by Achille, while Padilla and Joseph Kimok, Boatwright's defense attorney, sought to undermine his credibility by getting him to admit his untruthfulness in previous sworn statements to law enforcement.Dressed in tan Broward County jail scrubs, his hands and feet shackled, the 26-year-old Fort Lauderdale native provided his firsthand account of the day XXXTentacion died and its aftermath, including what happened to the loot. He mainly provided monosyllabic responses to the prosecutor and defense lawyers.
And he often responded in a monotone so low that Achille instructed him several times to raise his voice so the entire courtroom could hear him. "Speak up, nice and loud," she admonished Allen before she resumed questioning him on February 9.
When the lawyers sidebarred with the judge, Allen would either look down or away, avoiding eye contact with Boatwright, Newsome, and Williams, who were flanked by their defense team. In contrast to Allen, the three codefendants wore jackets and ties during the first week of the trial. Their gaze homed in on their former friend.
In August, Allen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed robbery with a firearm. He agreed to testify against his codefendants even though he still faces the possibility of a life sentence. On the stand last week, Allen admitted that he began cooperating with homicide detectives within hours of his capture in Dodge County, Georgia, on July 26, 2018.
Under questioning by Achille, Allen said under oath that the four-man crew had no fleshed-out plan beyond ambushing XXXTentacion after he and Williams confirmed the rapper's identity when the pair walked into Reva Motorsports to buy the mask. Allen said he got cold feet when they rejoined Boatwright and Newsome in the Dodge."I tell them I don't think it is a good idea. I knew it was a great chance we were gonna be caught."
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"I tell them I don't think it is a good idea," Allen testified. "I just went in there, and I am on camera. I knew it was a great chance we were gonna be caught."
Boatwright and Newsome also hesitated, but Williams appealed to their egos, Allen testified: "He asked them if they scared." He said Boatwright and Newsome allegedly responded, "All right, we're gonna get him."
Boatwright, Allen testified, donned a black mask and hoodie, and Newsome put on his black mask and a black sweater. "I told them I wasn't getting out because I knew I was on camera," Allen explained.
During the three-minute robbery, Allen claimed, Boatwright fired two or three shots that killed XXXTentacion, and Newsome snatched the bag. Afterward, Allen said that Boatwright, Newsome, and Williams took $15,000 apiece, leaving him with $5,000. He told Achille he got a paltry share because "I wasn't participating in the robbery... [Williams] actually said I wasn't going to get any money at all."
Under cross-examination by Kimok, Boatwright's attorney, Allen acknowledged that he'd provided conflicting sworn statements in 2018 and as recently as June last year. For example, Allen conceded that during his first police interview shortly after his arrest, he'd denied that Newsome and Boatwright were living with him at the time of the murder. "I was trying to minimize my involvement," he said.
"He Called Me a Police-Ass Nigga"
During Thursday's court proceedings, after the jury had recessed for lunch, Achille brought in David Alvarez, a Broward sheriff's deputy tasked with escorting Allen in and out of the courtroom. Alvarez informed Judge Usan that Newsome had shouted at Allen as he'd been brought to the courtroom that morning.Newsome yelled that Allen was "working with the po-po" and "working with the white man," Alvarez said, noting that the defendant was apparently aware Allen was within earshot even though the cell where he was being held was covered with a drape.
Over the objections of Newsome's attorney, George Reres, Usan allowed Achille to question Allen about the incident when the jury returned.
Allen pointed at Newsome from the witness stand, identifying him as the person who'd yelled at him as he was escorted to the courtroom. "He called me a police-ass nigga," Allen testified. "He said I work for the white man and that I am a sellout."
When Achille asked how he felt about what Newsome allegedly called him, Allen said, "Maybe it was a threat — a little bit."
