5 min read
Major Takeaways
• A Dallas County jury convicted Yella Beezy of capital murder on Wednesday for paying to have MO3 killed.
• The verdict landed on November 11, six years to the day after MO3 was gunned down on a Dallas freeway.
• Because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, Texas law makes the sentence life in prison without parole.
• The accused gunman, Kewon White, was convicted in September and is already serving that same sentence.
The Verdict in Dallas
Six years of questions ended inside a Dallas courtroom on Wednesday.
A Dallas County jury found Markies Conway, the rapper known to the world as Yella Beezy, guilty of capital murder.
Judge Chika Anyiam read the decision out loud. The jury, she said, unanimously found Conway guilty in the death of Melvin Abdul Noble Jr., the artist fans knew as MO3.
The charge was capital murder by remuneration. In plain terms, the state accused Conway of murder for pay.
Prosecutors told jurors that Conway paid Kewon White $40,000 to carry out the killing.
After 11 days of testimony, the jury sided with the state.
Conway pleaded not guilty and denied any role in the killing from the start. His legal team can still appeal the verdict.
A Sentence Written Into Law
There was no mystery about what the verdict means for Conway.
Prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty in this case.
Under Texas law, that choice leaves exactly one sentence for capital murder. Life in prison without the possibility of parole.
White received the same sentence in September, when a separate jury convicted him of carrying out the shooting.
Two men from the same Dallas music scene will now spend the rest of their lives in Texas prisons.
Six Years to the Day
The calendar gave this verdict a weight that nobody in the courtroom could ignore.
MO3 was killed on November 11, 2020. The jury delivered its verdict on November 11, 2026.
Every year since his death, fans in Dallas and far beyond the city have marked the date with his music up loud.
This year, the anniversary brought the answer his family has waited six years to hear.
His mother, Nichole Noble, testified during the trial and lived through every painful detail in public.
The Day the Freeway Became a Crime Scene
MO3 was 28 years old and one of the most beloved voices in Dallas rap.
On a November afternoon in 2020, traffic stopped on Interstate 35E near the Dallas Zoo, and a gunman stepped out into the open.
He opened fire in broad daylight. MO3 ran for his life, and the gunman chased him down the freeway on foot.
Drivers trapped in traffic watched one of the rising stars of the city get gunned down in front of them.
An innocent bystander was also shot that day and survived.
MO3 had already survived a shooting in December 2019. This time, he never made it home to his three children.
A Feud That Turned Fatal
Investigators traced the bad blood between the two rappers back to 2017.
Lead detective Eric Barnes walked the jury through years of tension, including an assault case involving comedian Roy Lee Pate, a friend of MO3.
Prosecutors played music videos and social media posts in court to show a rivalry that kept escalating in public view.
Jurors also heard that White searched the internet for the net worth of Conway just eight days before the shooting.
The defense fought back hard. Attorney Toby Shook attacked the money trail and questioned the credibility of witnesses who tied Conway to the payment.
One key witness even recanted earlier statements while on the stand.
None of it was enough. The jury believed the version of events presented by the state.
Two Careers and One Tragedy
Dallas did not lose just one artist in this story. The city lost two.
MO3 sang the struggle of North Dallas with a voice that made pain sound like a sermon.
His breakout song Errybody, recorded with Boosie Badazz, made him a hometown hero whose music still pours out of cars across the city.
Yella Beezy climbed his own ladder out of Oak Cliff, powered by the hit That’s On Me and a run of national tours.
A feud fed by pride, posts and old wounds has now produced a grave, two life sentences and one more case still moving through the courts.
A third defendant, Devin Brown, stands charged in connection with the killing and is expected back in court in December.
For two families and a city of fans, the verdict closes a long and painful chapter. It does not bring anybody back.
Stay with Urban City Podcast for continuing coverage of the stories shaping our community, and read more in our News and Entertainment sections.
