Who Killed XXXTentacion? Arrests, Trial, and Sentencing

September 9, 2026

Rapper XXXTentacion, whose legal name was Jahseh Onfroy, was killed on June 18, 2018, in an armed robbery outside a Deerfield Beach, Florida motorcycle dealership. Four men were charged: Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Robert Allen. In March 2023, a Broward County jury convicted Williams, Boatwright, and Newsome of first-degree murder and armed robbery, and all three received mandatory life sentences without parole. Allen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, testified for the prosecution, and was sentenced to seven years.

What Happened Outside Riva Motorsports

Onfroy, 20, had stopped at Riva Motorsports on the afternoon of June 18, 2018. He was carrying a Louis Vuitton bag holding $50,000 in cash he had recently withdrawn from a bank. According to Robert Allen’s later trial testimony, the four men had set out that day intending to commit armed robberies. Williams and Allen went into the shop to buy masks, spotted the rapper, and decided to target him.¹

The group waited in a rented SUV. When Onfroy got into his BMW and tried to leave, the SUV swerved to block him. Two masked gunmen got out and confronted him at the driver’s side window. Prosecutors identified Boatwright as the man who fired the fatal shots and Newsome as the second gunman. The attackers grabbed the bag of cash and fled. Onfroy was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly afterward.¹

Hours later, the defendants recorded cellphone videos of themselves smiling and fanning out hundred-dollar bills. Allen testified that the money was split four ways, with Boatwright, Newsome, and Williams each taking about $15,000 and Allen taking $5,000.²

The Four Men and Their Roles

Prosecutors, led by Pascale Achille, laid out distinct roles for each defendant. Williams was cast as the ringleader and getaway driver — the man who first identified the rapper inside the shop. Boatwright was the shooter. Newsome was the second gunman who exited the SUV with him. Allen stayed in the vehicle during the ambush and later described the plan and the aftermath to jurors.³

How Investigators Identified Them

The Broward Sheriff’s Office worked the case. Detectives used surveillance footage from inside and outside Riva Motorsports, along with cellphone records and Bluetooth data placing the defendants’ SUV at the scene.⁴

Williams was arrested first, on June 20, 2018, during a traffic stop two days after the killing. He was charged with first-degree murder along with a probation violation and driving without a valid license.⁵ Boatwright was picked up the following month on an unrelated drug charge before being formally charged with the murder.⁶ U.S. Marshals found Allen at a relative’s home in Eastman, Georgia on July 25, 2018; he was also wanted on a felony warrant for a probation violation involving flakka possession and a concealed firearm.⁷ Newsome surrendered at his lawyer’s office in Fort Lauderdale on August 7, 2018.⁸

Why Robert Allen Got Seven Years

In August 2022, Allen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery with a firearm and agreed to testify against his three co-defendants. His account of the day became central to the state’s case. He described how the group set out to rob people, how he and Williams went into the shop and recognized the rapper, and how the ambush played out.⁹

Defense lawyers tried to shred his credibility, arguing he was lying to avoid life in prison. Allen’s attorney, Jim Lewis, told the court his client had played a lesser role than the other three.¹⁰

The Trial

The trial of Boatwright, Williams, and Newsome opened in February 2023 at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale before Circuit Judge Michael Usan. Prosecutors built the case around the surveillance footage, cellphone location and Bluetooth data, videos of the defendants counting cash after the killing, and Allen’s testimony.³

The main defense argument at closing was that DNA recovered from Onfroy’s body and a stolen necklace did not match any of the three defendants. Boatwright’s attorney, Joseph Kimok, told jurors “the DNA proves that someone not named Michael Boatwright or Trayvon Newsome participated in this murder,” and accused detectives of failing to pursue other suspects. Achille responded that the absence of a DNA match did not exclude the defendants and pointed to the rest of the evidence.¹¹

Williams’s attorney also tried to depose the rapper Drake, citing a since-deleted social media post in which Onfroy had named him if anything happened. On February 24, 2023, Judge Usan ruled there was “zero evidence” of Drake’s involvement and quashed the subpoena.¹²

Verdicts and Sentences

After a monthlong trial and eight days of deliberation, a jury of five men and seven women found Boatwright, Williams, and Newsome guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery on March 20, 2023.¹³

On April 6, 2023, Judge Usan sentenced all three to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole or early release. Because prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, life was the only available sentence for first-degree murder under Florida law. Attorneys for all three said they intended to appeal.¹⁴¹⁵

Allen was sentenced separately on May 17, 2023. Judge Usan gave him seven years in prison followed by 20 years of probation. With credit for nearly five years already served in the Broward County Jail, he faced roughly two more years behind bars. The judge cited what he described as genuine remorse, telling Allen, “I genuinely believe that you are sorry for what you’ve done and not merely sorry for yourself.” Allen told the court, “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about what happened and beg for forgiveness from God.”¹⁰

Onfroy’s mother, Cleopatra Bernard, spoke briefly after the guilty verdict. “We’re good,” she said. “Justice was served.”⁴

1
Court TV. Suspects in Rapper XXXTentacion’s Death About to Face Trial
2
Rolling Stone. XXXTentacion Killers Sentenced to Life
3
NBC Miami. XXXTentacion Murder Trial: What to Know as Jury Deliberates Fate of 3 Defendants
4
NBC Miami. 3 Convicted in South Florida Murder of Rapper XXXTentacion Sentenced to Life in Prison
5
CBS 12. Arrest Made in Shooting Death of Rapper XXXTentacion
6
ABC 7. XXXTentacion Murder 2nd Suspect Arrested
7
CNN. XXXTentacion Shooting Arrest Robert Allen
8
CNN. XXXTentacion Shooting Arrest Trayvon Newsome
9
CBS News Miami. Fourth XXXTentacion Killer Gets Reduced Sentence After Taking Plea Deal
10
NBC Miami. Suspect Who Took Plea Deal in Murder of Rapper XXXTentacion Sentenced
11
Courthouse News. Lawyer: DNA Proves XXXTentacion’s Alleged Killers’ Innocence
12
Rolling Stone. Drake Will Not Sit Deposition XXXTentacion Murder Trial
13
ABC News. 3 Men Found Guilty of Killing Rapper XXXTentacion
14
Denver Post. XXXTentacion’s Convicted Killers Sentenced to Life in Prison
15
Sun Sentinel. Three Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of XXXTentacion