BY: Walker
Published 4 hours ago
24-year-old Taymor Travon McIntyre, better known as Tay-K, has been found guilty of the 2017 shooting murder of San Antonio photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar.
Tay-K, whose real name is Taymor McIntyre, appeared in court on Monday, April 14, having been accused of killing 23-year-old Mark Anthony Saldivar. The photographer was found fatally shot at a Chick-fil-A in San Antonio on April 23, 2017, KSAT 12 and News4SA reported.
McIntyre was found not guilty of capital murder, which would have meant an automatic life sentence without the chance of parole. However, jurors unanimously agreed to convict him for the lesser charge of murder, according to the outlets.
Prosecutors said McIntyre had tried to rob Saldivar of his camera equipment before shooting him in the car he had picked him up in, per Fort Worth Star-Telegram and NBC News.
The rapper’s attorneys criticized the police’s investigation of the shooting, alleging that there was too much reliance on statements from witnesses.
“Taymor McIntyre is not guilty of capital murder, murder, or manslaughter, and the reason for that is very simple,” John Hunter, one of McIntyre’s attorneys, said during closing arguments, per NBC News. “You have to do it right. You have to do the work. And this case clearly demonstrates the work wasn’t done.”
PEOPLE has reached out to McIntyre’s attorneys for comment but did not immediately hear back.
McIntyre is already serving a 55-year sentence for his involvement in a home invasion and robbery in Mansfield, Texas, that resulted in the death of 21-year-old Ethan Walker in 2016.
As previously reported by PEOPLE, although the California native did not pull the trigger in that case, prosecutors argued he knew the plan to steal drugs and money from the house where Walker was therefore, he was just as responsible. Prosecutors said Tay-K also knew the incident could end with someone being shot.
Walker was fatally shot in the stomach after he told the robbers, which included a then 16-year-old McIntyre, that he didn’t have drugs or money. Walker’s roommate Zachary Beloate was wounded but survived.
McIntyre was placed under house arrest until his hearing for the incident but cut off his ankle monitor and went on the run, per CBS Dallas-Forth Worth. As a fugitive, he released “The Race,” on which he raps “F— a beat, I was tryna beat a case / But I ain’t beat that case, bitch I did the race (skrt, skirt).” The music video for the track shows the rapper posing next to a wanted poster of himself.
It was while on the run that he allegedly robbed and fatally shot 23-year-old Mark Saldivar at a Chick-fil-A in San Antonio on April 23, 2017, Forth Worth Star-Telegram reported.
He was eventually captured on June 30 in 2017 in New Jersey and was brought back to Forth Worth, Forth Worth Star-Telegram reported.
McIntyre is facing an additional 5 to 99 years in prison for the death of Saldivar. Judge Boyd told jurors that they would continue with the punishment phase of the trial on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 15, per News4SA.
via: People
