XXXTentacion Murderers: Convictions, Sentences, and Drake Theory

September 12, 2026

Four men were charged in the murder of XXXTentacion, and by 2023 all four had been held accountable. The rapper’s murderers were identified as Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Robert Allen. Williams, Boatwright, and Newsome were convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery in March 2023 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Allen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery with a firearm, testified against the other three, and received seven years in prison followed by 20 years of probation.¹²

What Happened on June 18, 2018

Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, the 20-year-old rapper who performed as XXXTentacion, stopped at RIVA Motorsports near Deerfield Beach, Florida, with his uncle Leonard Kerr. Earlier that afternoon he had withdrawn $50,000 in cash from a bank, which he was carrying in a Louis Vuitton bag.³ As he tried to drive his BMW out of the parking lot, a rented Dodge Journey blocked his path. Two masked men jumped out, demanded his gold chain, struggled with him, and one of them fired multiple shots into the car before grabbing the bag and fleeing.⁴ A medical examiner later determined that three .22-caliber bullets struck the rapper in the neck. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.⁵

Prosecutors argued the killing was not a targeted hit but a robbery of opportunity. The four men had rented the SUV the day before intending to commit robberies, stopped at the motorcycle shop to buy neoprene masks, recognized the rapper by chance, and decided on the spot to rob him after seeing the cash-filled bag.⁶

The Four Men Convicted

Dedrick Williams

Williams, 22 at the time of the killing, was described by prosecutors as the “ringleader” and getaway driver. He and Allen went into RIVA Motorsports first to buy the masks, and after Williams spotted the rapper inside he convinced the group to rob him.⁷ Williams was the first arrested, taken into custody on June 20, 2018, two days after the murder. Surveillance video had captured him in a white tank top and orange sandals, and the following day store cameras in Fort Lauderdale filmed him spending $800 in $100 bills while wearing the same sandals.⁸ He was on probation for a prior auto theft conviction when he was arrested.⁹

Michael Boatwright

Boatwright, also 22, was identified by prosecutors and by Allen as the triggerman who fired the fatal shots.¹⁰ He had been arrested on unrelated drug charges on July 5, 2018, and was served with a first-degree murder warrant five days later.¹¹ His defense at trial was that he had been asleep at home during the killing and that a cellphone linked to him was a “community phone” used by multiple people.⁴

Trayvon Newsome

Newsome, 20 when indicted, was identified as the second gunman. Prosecutors said he held a firearm during the robbery but did not fire it, and that he took possession of the stolen cash before the group fled.¹² He was the last of the four taken into custody, surrendering in August 2018.¹³ His attorney argued at trial that without Allen’s testimony the state had no evidence placing Newsome at the scene.¹⁴

Robert Allen

Allen, 22 at the time of the crime, appeared alongside Williams in the store surveillance footage and was named a person of interest on June 27, 2018. He was arrested on July 25 at his sister’s home in Eastman, Georgia, by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.¹¹ By his own trial testimony, Allen chose not to enter the parking lot for the actual robbery because he knew the store cameras had already recorded him buying masks. He still took a $5,000 cut of the stolen money; Boatwright, Williams, and Newsome each allegedly took $15,000.⁷ He eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery with a firearm in exchange for cooperating against the other three.²

How the Case Was Proved

Surveillance video did much of the work. Cameras inside and outside RIVA Motorsports caught Williams and Allen buying masks, the SUV blocking the BMW, and the shooting itself. Separate footage from earlier that day showed the rapper withdrawing the $50,000.³¹⁵¹⁶ The .22-caliber rifle used in the killing was never recovered, though a firearms expert testified that all three bullets removed from Onfroy’s body came from the same gun.⁵

The centerpiece of the prosecution’s case was Allen’s testimony. Over four days on the stand, he described the group’s plan to commit robberies that day, the coincidence of spotting the rapper inside the shop, and Boatwright firing the shots. “As he’s grabbing the bag shots are fired,” Allen told the jury.¹⁰ Under cross-examination he acknowledged inconsistencies with earlier sworn statements, saying he had been “trying to minimize my involvement.”⁷

The three defense teams built their cases around attacking Allen, calling him a career criminal and a liar with a motive to lie. Boatwright’s attorney also pointed to DNA recovered from the victim’s body and a stolen necklace that did not match any of the defendants, arguing it showed someone else was responsible.¹⁶ Responding in closing arguments, prosecutor Pascale Achille told the jury: “Plans that are hatched in hell do not have angels for witnesses.”¹⁷

Verdicts and Sentences

The joint trial opened in February 2023 in Broward County before Judge Michael Usan. After roughly a month of testimony, a jury of five men and seven women deliberated for about a week. On March 20, 2023, Williams, Boatwright, and Newsome were each found guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery.¹⁸

On April 6, 2023, Judge Usan sentenced all three to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole or early release.¹ Allen was sentenced separately on May 17, 2023, to seven years in prison followed by 20 years of probation. He had been in custody since his July 2018 arrest, and with credit for time served roughly two years remained on his prison sentence at sentencing.²

What About the Drake Theory

Williams’s attorney, Mauricio Padilla, raised the possibility during the case that the killing could be tied to a public feud between XXXTentacion and the rapper Drake, pointing to a social media post Onfroy had made months before his death saying Drake would be responsible if he were killed. A judge ruled before trial that Drake would not be required to sit for a deposition, finding no evidence linking him to the crime, and prosecutors stated there was no evidence connecting him to the shooting.¹⁹²⁰ The jury convicted on the prosecution’s theory of a robbery-turned-murder carried out by the four men charged.

1
NBC Miami. 3 Convicted in South Florida Murder of Rapper XXXTentacion Sentenced to Life in Prison
2
NBC Miami. Suspect Who Took Plea Deal in Murder of Rapper XXXTentacion Sentenced
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NBC Miami. Shocking Video Showing Killing of Rapper XXXTentacion Played at Suspects Murder Trial
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Court TV. XXXTentacion’s Friend Describes Rapper’s Fatal Shooting
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NBC Miami. Medical Examiner and Firearms Expert Testify in XXXTentacion Murder Trial
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Sun-Sentinel. Rapper XXXTentacion’s Accused Killers Planned a Robbery, Prosecutors Say
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Rolling Stone. What You Need to Know About the XXXTentacion Murder Trial
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Miami Herald. Four Suspects in XXXTentacion Murder
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ABC 7. Arrest Made in Shooting Death of XXXTentacion
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iHeart. Suspect in XXXTentacion’s Murder Delivers Damning Testimony at Trial
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XXL Magazine. Timeline of XXXTentacion’s Murder Case
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Oxygen. XXXTentacion Murder: Boatwright, Williams, Newsome Guilty
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WLRN. The Fourth Suspect in the Murder of Rapper XXXTentacion Surrenders
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Miami Herald. XXXTentacion Murder Trial
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NBC Miami. XXXTentacion Murder Trial: What to Know as Jury Deliberates
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Courthouse News Service. Lawyer: DNA Proves XXXTentacion’s Alleged Killers’ Innocence
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Miami Herald. XXXTentacion Murder Trial Closing Arguments
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Vibe. XXXTentacion Murder Trial Guilty Convictions
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Rolling Stone. Drake Will Not Sit for Deposition in XXXTentacion Murder Trial
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New York Post. Defense in XXXTentacion Murder Trial Suggests Drake Could Be Tied to Slaying