Rapper Tay-K, born Taymor McIntyre, has been sentenced to 80 years behind bars for his connection to the 2017 murder of a photographer.
On Monday, McIntyre—who also goes by Tay-K 47—was found guilty of the 2017 murder of Mark Anthony Saldivar, NBC News affiliate News 4 San Antonio reported. On Tuesday, a jury in Bexar County, Texas, delivered the sentence after hours of testimony.
“I do realize that while this is a lot of time, you’re still alive. You can still better yourself,” 187th District Court Judge Stephanie Boyd said to Tay-K, according to KENS 5. “But the complainant in this case is deceased, and you need to internalize that the complainant in this case is deceased. You’re going to have to make changes.”
The sentencing comes after a nearly decade-long saga of legal battles for the rapper stemming from two separate murders. According to prosecutors, the 24-year-old, who was 16 at the time, fatally shot Saldivar in 2017 after stealing his photography equipment.
Tay-K was initially looking at a capital murder charge, which the judge downgraded to murder after deliberations on Monday. The rapper’s attorneys criticized the police investigation in the 2017 case, arguing that the case relied heavily on “self-serving” witness accounts from individuals who were inside the car at the time of the shooting.
“Taymor McIntyre is not guilty of capital murder, murder, or manslaughter, and the reason for that is very simple,” Tay-K’s lawyer John Hunter told jurors during last week’s closing arguments. “You have to do it right. You have to do the work. And this case clearly demonstrates the work wasn’t done.”
In 2019, Tay-K was also sentenced to 55 years for the 2016 murder of Ethan Walker during a home invasion in Texas. He rose to viral fame for the hit song “The Race,” which was recorded while the teen was on the run after the shooting.
Tay-K is currently being held at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, where he will remain.
