Mark Anthony Saldivar was a 23-year-old San Antonio photographer who was shot and killed on April 23, 2017, in the parking lot of a Chick-fil-A on the city’s North Side. His killer was Taymor McIntyre, a teenage rapper known as Tay-K, who was a fugitive from a separate Tarrant County murder charge at the time. In April 2025, a Bexar County jury convicted McIntyre of murder in Saldivar’s death and sentenced him to 80 years in prison.1Fox San Antonio. Tay-K Sentenced to 80 Years in Prison for the Murder of Photographer Mark Saldivar
Who Mark Anthony Saldivar Was
Saldivar was born on September 21, 1993, in San Antonio, Texas, to Lucy Saldivar and Paul Huron.2Legacy.com. Mark Anthony Saldivar Obituary He grew up in the city and attended local schools there. Family, friends, and news coverage of his death all identified him by his work as a photographer.3Rolling Stone. Rapper Tay-K Guilty of Murder in Second Shooting Conviction
He is survived by his mother, his brothers Johnathan Saldivar and Ray Martinez, his sister Danielle Chincarini, and several nieces and nephews.2Legacy.com. Mark Anthony Saldivar Obituary His mother, Lucy Saldivar, later testified for the prosecution during his killer’s trial.4KSAT. Lead Detective Testifies in Tay-K Capital Murder Trial
What Happened in the Chick-fil-A Parking Lot
Around 5:30 p.m. on April 23, 2017, San Antonio police responded to a disturbance call near the Chick-fil-A at 27 Northeast Loop 410, close to North Star Mall.5MySanAntonio.com. Man Killed in Chick-Fil-A Lot Was Standing on Hood of Car Saldivar had been in a car with several other people when a fight broke out. The altercation began near Loop 410 and McCullough Avenue, and the car pulled into the Chick-fil-A lot with Saldivar clinging to the hood.6CBS Austin. Man Shot to Death at Chick-Fil-A Parking Lot
Witnesses said Saldivar climbed onto the hood and kicked through the windshield while screaming for help and demanding his property back. Prosecutors later said the front-seat passenger leaned out and shot him. The medical examiner found that Saldivar died from a gunshot wound to his left shoulder and chest, and ruled the death a homicide.6CBS Austin. Man Shot to Death at Chick-Fil-A Parking Lot Investigators recovered a single 9mm shell casing at the scene, along with a bag of marijuana near his body.7KSAT. Jurors View Crime Scene Evidence on Day 3 of Taymor McIntyre’s Capital Murder Trial The car then fled westbound on the Loop 410 access road.5MySanAntonio.com. Man Killed in Chick-Fil-A Lot Was Standing on Hood of Car
Who Killed Him
The shooter was Taymor McIntyre, a 16-year-old rapper from the Dallas-Fort Worth area who performed as Tay-K. At the time of Saldivar’s death, McIntyre was already facing a murder charge in Tarrant County over the July 2016 shooting of 21-year-old Ethan Walker during a home invasion in Mansfield, Texas.8NBC News. Rapper Tay-K Convicted of Murder for Second Time in Texas
In March 2017, while on house arrest awaiting a hearing on whether he would be tried as an adult, McIntyre cut off his ankle monitor and fled, announcing his escape on Twitter. Saldivar was killed roughly a month later. While on the run, McIntyre also recorded a single called “The Race” that referenced his fugitive status; the song was released the same day U.S. Marshals arrested him in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in June 2017.9XXL Magazine. Timeline of Tay-K’s Legal Troubles He was extradited back to Texas and later tried and convicted in the Walker case in July 2019, receiving a 55-year prison sentence.3Rolling Stone. Rapper Tay-K Guilty of Murder in Second Shooting Conviction
The Bexar County Trial
Years later, McIntyre stood trial for Saldivar’s murder in Bexar County’s 187th District Court before Judge Stephanie Boyd.10San Antonio Express-News. Texas Rapper Tay-K Murder Appeal Prosecutors Meghan Galloway and Jason Garrahan charged him with capital murder, alleging he killed Saldivar during an attempted robbery of his camera gear.11Marietta Times. Rapper Tay-K Convicted of Murder for Second Time in Texas Jurors were also told they could consider the lesser charges of murder or manslaughter.12KSAT. Taymor McIntyre Topic Page
The state’s central witness was Joanna Reyes, McIntyre’s ex-girlfriend, who was driving the car the night of the shooting. Reyes had originally been charged with capital murder but accepted a plea deal, agreeing to testify in exchange for a reduced charge of tampering with evidence and 10 years of probation.13KSAT. Key Witness Details Deadly Shooting on Day 5 of Tay-K’s Capital Murder Trial She told jurors that McIntyre was the front-seat passenger and the shooter, and that he fired after Saldivar climbed onto the hood trying to retrieve his belongings.14News 4 San Antonio. Rapper Tay-K 47’s Fate in Jury’s Hands as Murder Trial Concludes She identified two other people in the car as Jalen Bell and Jeremiah Rodriguez, and testified that after the shooting, McIntyre and Bell took Saldivar’s backpack, with Bell telling McIntyre, “You caught your first body,” and giving him a high five. The available reporting does not indicate whether Bell or Rodriguez were charged.
The prosecution also introduced surveillance footage from a nearby business showing the car pulling into the lot with someone on the hood, the 9mm shell casing, and testimony from San Antonio police detectives.7KSAT. Jurors View Crime Scene Evidence on Day 3 of Taymor McIntyre’s Capital Murder Trial
McIntyre’s attorneys, Gerald Goldstein, John Hunter, and Thomas Lane, called the investigation “lazy” and “faulty,” arguing the lead detective had leaned too heavily on statements from the people inside the car. Hunter told jurors Reyes’s testimony was “bought and paid for” through her plea deal. The defense also emphasized that no witness had positively identified McIntyre as the shooter and that neither a camera nor the backpack had ever been recovered, which they argued undermined the robbery theory itself.15San Antonio Express-News. Tay-K Murder Trial Jury
Verdict and Sentence
On April 14, 2025, the jury acquitted McIntyre of capital murder but found him guilty of the lesser charge of murder.11Marietta Times. Rapper Tay-K Convicted of Murder for Second Time in Texas A capital murder conviction would have carried an automatic life sentence because he was 16 at the time of the killing; the murder conviction instead carried a range of five to 99 years.16KSAT. Taymor Tay-K McIntyre’s Capital Murder Trial Reaches Seventh Day
Prosecutors asked for life, and introduced McIntyre’s lyrics from “The Race” during the punishment phase as evidence of his character.16KSAT. Taymor Tay-K McIntyre’s Capital Murder Trial Reaches Seventh Day The jury sentenced McIntyre to 80 years in prison.1Fox San Antonio. Tay-K Sentenced to 80 Years in Prison for the Murder of Photographer Mark Saldivar Judge Boyd ordered the sentence to run concurrently with the 55-year sentence McIntyre was already serving in the Walker case. Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said the sentence “proves that accountability knows no social status.”
Hunter said after sentencing that the defense would appeal and pursue “all available appellate remedies.”10San Antonio Express-News. Texas Rapper Tay-K Murder Appeal McIntyre remains in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.17News 4 San Antonio. Tay-K Sentenced to 80 Years in Prison for the Murder of Photographer Mark Saldivar