Yella Beezy Gets Life Without Parole After MO3 Murder Trial
A Dallas County jury on Wednesday found the rapper Yella Beezy guilty of capital murder, ruling that he paid a gunman to kill his rival MO3 on a Dallas freeway exactly six years earlier.
Judge Chika Anyiam sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole immediately after the verdict was read.
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The rapper, whose legal name is Markies Conway and who is 35, pleaded not guilty and has denied any part in the killing. Jurors deliberated for several hours before returning a unanimous verdict.
Prosecutors had not sought the death penalty, so life without parole was the only sentence available on a capital conviction.
MO3, born Melvin Noble, was 28 when he was shot on Nov. 11, 2020, along Interstate 35E near Marsalis Avenue in South Dallas. Traffic cameras captured much of the attack. A gunman pulled up beside Mr. Noble in daylight, stepped out with a rifle and chased him on foot down the highway.
Mr. Noble was struck 11 times and died at a hospital. A bystander in another car was wounded and survived. Prosecutors told jurors the shooter fired more than 40 rounds.
The gunman, Kewon White, was convicted of capital murder in September and received the same sentence. He declined to testify. His lawyers have asked for a new trial, arguing that a juror slept through testimony, and he has filed notice of appeal.
Mr. White was already in federal custody on an unrelated firearm conviction, for which he had received nearly nine years in 2022, when a Dallas County grand jury indicted Mr. Conway in March 2025 on a charge of capital murder while remuneration was involved. Mr. Conway was arrested days later. A third man, Devin Brown, is also charged in the killing and awaits trial.
Prosecutors, led by Tommy Adams and Krystal Biggins, built the case around what Mr. Adams called motive, money and the man. They told jurors that Mr. Conway had paid $40,000 to have Mr. Noble killed after a long-running feud, and described a plot in which Mr. Brown served as a tipster and a man named Jerry Johnson acted as a middleman who moved money to Mr. White.
The jury heard about wire transfers, seized cash, a large cash withdrawal after Mr. Conway returned to North Texas, and 15 calls between Mr. Johnson and Mr. White that prosecutors said lined up with Mr. Conway’s meetings.
Testimony from an American Airlines employee and an Arlington jeweler helped establish a timeline of travel and cash. Jurors also heard about custom jewelry orders tied to Mr. Conway’s rap crew, the Get Rich Cartel.
The lead detective, Eric Barnes, described an escalating rivalry between the two men. Jurors were shown rap videos and lyrics from both artists, along with an old interview in which Mr. Conway vowed retaliation after being shot and said he did not know Mr. Noble. Prosecutors pointed to a 2018 shooting in which Mr. Conway survived gunfire on a tollway in Lewisville, Texas, as part of the backdrop to the feud.
Cedric Bradley, a childhood friend of Mr. Conway, testified under a proffer agreement that Mr. White bragged about the killing and was angry that he had not been paid as promised. Mr. Bradley did not name Mr. Conway as the person who paid.
Another longtime friend, the rapper Theodore Thomas, known as Jose Bodega, repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment before testifying that he had lied to the grand jury and invented the feud. Defense lawyers said he spoke under the threat of federal racketeering charges in his own case. Judge Anyiam told jurors that grand jury statements could not be treated as proof of the claims against Mr. Conway.
Mr. Conway’s lawyers, Toby Shook and John Gussio, argued that the state relied on speculation, rap lyrics and police tunnel vision. Mr. Shook told jurors that cellphone data placed Mr. Conway in Frisco rather than at an alleged barbershop meeting, and that he routinely withdrew large sums in $50 and $100 bills for family and business expenses.
An agent testified that there was no direct cellphone contact between Mr. Conway and either Mr. White or Mr. Brown. Mr. Gussio argued that both rappers were successful and had no reason to want the other dead, pointed to a personal dispute between Mr. Brown and Mr. Noble, and noted that Mr. Brown logged 46 calls with Mr. White around the time of the shooting.
He called Mr. Bradley’s account rehearsed. The defense also called Lynn M. Scott, a marketing executive at Mr. Conway’s label, Hitco Entertainment, and his aunt and cousin, who described him as generous.
The prosecution’s witnesses included Mr. Noble’s mother, Nicole Noble, who recalled rushing to the hospital and waiting hours before learning her son had died. Jocylynn Jackson testified that she was in a relationship with Mr. Noble.
Justin O’Donnell, a Dallas police crime scene supervisor, said officers found jewelry and $17,960 in cash scattered in Mr. Noble’s bullet-damaged car and no firearms. Many in the courtroom wept as the verdict was read, including Mr. Conway’s young son. Prosecutors said there would be no victim impact statements.
Mr. Conway rose to national attention in 2017 with the single “That’s On Me” and later collaborated with Quavo and Gucci Mane on “Bacc at It Again.”
Mr. Noble built a devoted following with melodic street narratives, including the record “Errybody.” Mr. Conway’s trial was delayed by a month so his lawyers could obtain the transcript of Mr. White’s trial. His attorney has said he will appeal.
