Again, US Rapper Tay-K Convicted of Murder

Texas rapper Taymor McIntyre, popularly known as Tay-K, has been convicted of murder for a second time after a jury found him guilty of fatally shooting a man in San Antonio.

The 23-year-old rapper, best known for his 2017 viral hit “The Race”, now faces a potential life sentence with the possibility of parole for the killing of Mark Anthony Saldivar, also 23, in 2017.

Prosecutors told the court that McIntyre shot Saldivar during an attempted robbery after luring him under the pretense of a photoshoot. Saldivar, a photographer, had been asked to take promotional pictures of the rapper for an upcoming project.

Authorities said McIntyre picked up Saldivar in a vehicle before the confrontation turned deadly.

While McIntyre’s defense team insisted that the investigation was flawed and overly reliant on statements from others present in the car during the shooting, jurors were not swayed.

“Taymor McIntyre is not guilty of capital murder, murder, or manslaughter, and the reason for that is very simple,” defense attorney John Hunter told jurors during closing arguments. “You have to do it right. You have to do the work. And this case clearly demonstrates the work wasn’t done.”

The jury ultimately acquitted McIntyre of capital murder — a charge that would have carried a mandatory life sentence without parole — but found him guilty of murder.

The case now moves into the punishment phase, during which jurors will decide the length of McIntyre’s sentence.

McIntyre is already serving a 55-year sentence after being convicted in 2019 for the 2016 shooting death of 21-year-old Ethan Walker during a home invasion in Mansfield, southeast of Fort Worth, Texas.

Notoriously, McIntyre recorded “The Race” while on the run from authorities for Walker’s murder. The song, which detailed his time as a fugitive, went viral and attracted national attention — further complicating his legal troubles.