One of the four suspects in XXXTentacion’s 2018 murder will be held in jail without bond.
According to legal documents obtained by XXL on Wednesday (Feb. 12), a judge denied Trayvon Newsome’s request for bond. Newsome is accused, along with three others, of robbing and killing the late rapper.
The decision was handed down at Newsome’s hearing last Thursday (Feb. 6) at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Newsome initially requested the bond hearing last September, where his attorney argued that he was legally entitled to bond until the murder trial begins. His request for the bond hearing was approved in October. However, within the last few months, prosecutors presented more evidence supporting the charges that Newsome faces.
“This court having found proof evident and presumption great hereby declines to set bonds,” Judge Michael Usan wrote in his decision. “No bonds remain as to counts 1, 2.”
Three other men, Michael Boatwright, Dedrick Williams and Robert Allen are accused of conspiring to kill the rapper on June 18, 2018 outside of RIVA Motorsports in Deerfield Beach, FL. However, authorities have formally accused Boatwright of firing the shot that actually killed XXX.
Newsome was arrested almost two months after XXX’s murder on Aug. 7, 2018, after turning himself over to authorities. He was the last of the four suspects to be arrested, following Williams’ arrest on June 20, Boatwright’s on July 5 and Allen’s on July 26.
Prosecutors claim that Newsome approached the rapper with a gun before being aided by the three other men in the armed robbery, which ultimately ended in XXX’s death. Newsome was previously indicted on charges of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.
Newsome pleaded not guilty to the charges back in August of 2018.
“Official discovery has not yet been provided to me so I am uncertain of any specific evidence that backs up law enforcement’s theory about the tragic death of XXXTentacion and what role they think Mr. Newsome may have played,” Newsome’s lawyer George E. Reres told Complex at the time.
Boatwright, Williams and Allen are also all being held in prison without bail.