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Justitie · Mo3 murder case

Six years to the day after Mo3 was killed, a Dallas jury sends Yella Beezy to prison for life

A Dallas County jury convicted Markies Conway of capital murder for arranging the 2020 interstate ambush of rival rapper Melvin Noble. In Texas that means life without parole. His lawyer plans to appeal, and one of the men accused with him has not been tried yet.

Geschreven 4 min leestijd · 14 bronnen

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Many people in the Dallas courtroom were crying when the verdict was read on Wednesday. WFAA's account, relayed by B93, says one of them was a young son of one of the two rappers at the center of the case. The reports do not say whose son he was. Six years earlier to the day, on November 11, 2020, Melvin Noble, the rapper known as Mo3, was ambushed and shot dead on Interstate 35 in Dallas.⁠14⁠9

The Dallas County jury found Markies Conway, the Dallas rapper who performs as Yella Beezy, guilty of capital murder in that killing. Prosecutors said Conway, now 35, ordered the shooting and hired the gunman. In Texas this conviction carries only one sentence: life in prison without the possibility of parole. NBC 5 reports that Judge Anyiam imposed it after the verdict. Conway, who once opened for Jay-Z and Beyoncé, will never be eligible for parole.⁠5⁠7⁠3⁠10⁠11

The trial is over, but the case is not. Defense attorney Toby Shook says he is already planning an appeal. And one of the two men prosecutors say Conway tried to pay for the killing has not yet faced a jury.⁠6⁠3

6 yrsFrom the ambush to the verdict, to the day 914
$40,000Alleged offer to two men, per prosecutors 3
~11Days of testimony before the jury 12
35Conway's age at conviction 1113

What the state said, and what the jury heard

The state's case centred on a murder-for-hire. Prosecutors accused Conway of offering $40,000 to two men, Kewon White and Devin Brown, to carry out the shooting. Conway pleaded not guilty. White, identified as the gunman, was tried separately. CBS Texas reports he was convicted last month and sentenced to life in prison. Brown is expected to face trial soon, but none of the reports we have give a date.⁠3

Witnesses described the ambush itself. On the second day of trial, a doctor who saw the shooting on I-35 gave emotional testimony. He said he put his own safety at risk to try to help Noble.⁠3

Not every prosecution witness held to his earlier account. Rapper Jose Bodega, legal name Theodore Thomas, had told a grand jury about a feud between Conway and Noble. At trial he said he had made it up. The judge then let prosecutors treat him as a hostile witness, which allowed them to question him as an adversary rather than as a friendly witness.⁠3

The trial ran more than two weeks. WFAA counts about 11 days of testimony. Closing arguments came on Tuesday, November 10. Jurors deliberated for what outlets describe as hours, or several hours, and returned their verdict the next day. None of the reports give an exact deliberation time. AllHipHop describes the verdict as unanimous.⁠1⁠12⁠8⁠14⁠13

From the ambush to the sentence

  1. Nov 11, 2020

    Melvin Noble, known as Mo3, is ambushed and shot dead on Interstate 35 in Dallas.

    9143
  2. Second day of trial

    A doctor who saw the shooting testifies that he risked his own safety to help Noble.

    3
  3. Tue Nov 10, 2026

    Closing arguments in Conway's capital murder trial.

    84
  4. Wed Nov 11, 2026

    After several hours of deliberation, the jury finds Conway guilty of capital murder.

    587
  5. Wed Nov 11, 2026

    Judge Anyiam imposes the automatic sentence of life without parole.

    102

A note on the early coverage. The first CBS Texas version of the verdict story said Conway "now enters the punishment phase of the trial." The updated version kept that line but put it next to the automatic life-without-parole sentence, and other outlets report the sentence has already been imposed. With only one possible sentence, the punishment phase had almost nothing left to decide. The earlier wording is out of date, not a real disagreement between outlets.⁠1⁠3⁠10⁠13

Reaction, and the road to an appeal

Prosecutor Tommy Adams thanked the jurors and said he thinks they "got it right." Rolling Out reports that the verdict left the courtroom in tears. None of the reporting we reviewed includes a statement from the Dallas County District Attorney's office or a quoted reaction from Noble's family.⁠6⁠9

We can only guess at the grounds, but the trial record offers at least one obvious issue. A witness whose grand jury account suggested a motive took it back under oath, and the judge then let prosecutors question him as a hostile witness. Rulings like that are often argued on appeal. Whether this one will be, and whether it could matter, depends on arguments the defense has not yet made.⁠3

Bekend

  • Conway was convicted of capital murder on November 11, 2026, and given life without parole. 5710
  • Kewon White, identified as the gunman, was convicted separately and sentenced to life in prison. 3

Onbekend

  • The grounds and timing of Shook's appeal.
  • A trial date for Devin Brown. None appears in the reports we have.
  • Exactly how long the jury deliberated, and whose son was in the courtroom.

Wat volgt

  • Whether the defense files for a new trial or an appeal in the coming weeks.
  • Brown's trial, where the alleged $40,000 offer will be tested again.

Bronnen9

Van de hier aangehaalde bronnen publiceerde CBS Texas als eerste, 38 uur voordat dit bericht werd uitgezonden. 4 andere media volgden.
  1. CBS Texas
  2. FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth
  3. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
  4. AllHipHop
  5. Rolling Out
  6. HeyDay News

4 media zonder datum:wfaa.comapnews.comb93.netDallas News

Alle bronnen, per medium

14 bronnen van 9 media· Meest geciteerd eerst

Zoals uitgezonden
  1. Rapper Yella Beezy will spend the rest of his life in prison for Mo3's killing.
  2. A Dallas County jury convicted him of capital murder on Wednesday, six years to the day after Mo3 was shot dead on a Dallas interstate. In Texas, that conviction carries life without parole.
  3. His lawyer is already planning an appeal, and one of the men accused in the alleged murder-for-hire still hasn't been tried.
  4. Because that sentence is automatic, there was little left for a punishment phase to decide. Judge Anyiam handed it down after the verdict. Conway is 35, and he'll never be eligible for parole. His defense attorney, Toby Shook, says he's already planning the appeal.
  5. Yella Beezy's legal name is Markies Conway. He's a Dallas rapper who once opened for Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Mo3, whose legal name was Melvin Noble, was a rival artist. Prosecutors said Conway ordered the shooting and hired the gunman.
  6. Mo3 was ambushed on Interstate 35 in Dallas in November 2020. On the second day of trial, a doctor who saw the shooting gave emotional testimony. He told jurors he put his own safety at risk to try to help Noble.
  7. Six years separate the ambush and the verdict. The trial itself ran more than two weeks, with about 11 days of testimony. Closing arguments came on November 10. Jurors deliberated for several hours and returned their verdict the next day, November 11, the sixth anniversary of Mo3's death.
  8. When the verdict was read, many people in the courtroom were crying. Among them was a young son of one of the two rappers.
  9. Prosecutor Tommy Adams thanked the jurors and said he thinks they got it right. We haven't heard from Mo3's family or from the district attorney's office.
  10. We're following Conway's appeal and the next trial in this case, so subscribe to this channel, and find the full story at heyday dot news.
  11. Prosecutors built their case around forty thousand dollars. They accused Conway of offering that money to two men, Kewon White and Devin Brown, to carry out the shooting. Conway pleaded not guilty, and the jury convicted him.
  12. Conway is now the second man convicted in Mo3's killing.
  13. Kewon White, identified as the gunman, was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to life in prison. Devin Brown hasn't been tried yet, and he's expected to face a jury soon. Conway's defense attorney, Toby Shook, now turns to the appeal.
  14. One of the state's witnesses took back his own story on the stand.
  15. Rapper Jose Bodega, whose legal name is Theodore Thomas, told a grand jury about a feud between Conway and Mo3. At trial, he said he'd made that up. The judge then let prosecutors treat him as a hostile witness, so they could question him as an adversary.
  16. A reversal like that is the kind of issue an appeal could focus on. Shook hasn't said what he'll argue, or when he'll file. And Devin Brown, the third man accused in the alleged forty-thousand-dollar plot, is still waiting for his trial.

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