Teen Rapper Tay-K Sentenced To 55 Years For Home Invasion Murder
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - A jury in Fort Worth has sentenced teen rapper Tay-K to 55 years in prison for the 2016 murder of a father during a home invasion.
Taymor McIntyre, aka Tay-K, was convicted of murder last week in the home invasion shooting death of Ethan Walker.
The teen rapper was sentenced to 55 years for the murder along with 30, 13 and 13 years for three counts of aggravated robbery. The sentences will be served concurrently.
The courtroom was full for closing arguments Tuesday morning. Prosecutors pushed jurors to consider McIntyre's character, including his run from the law after being arrested in 2017, and his behavior in jail since he was captured.
McIntyre's defense team portrayed him as a teenager trying to make it on his own. They also told jurors there was no principled way they could sentence him to more than the 20-year sentence offered to Meagan Holt, a teenaged girl who participated in the crime and testified during the trial.
McIntyre raised his profile in 2017 with the song "The Race," where he rapped about running from a case he could not beat.
"Every lyric to 'The Race' is stained with my son's blood. Every 'Free Tay-K' shirt that was ever sold has my son's blood on it," the victim's father, Richard Walker, said.
During the trial, the jury had decided not to deliver a capital murder conviction and a life sentence and, instead, went for a lesser murder conviction.
The teen will have to serve more than 27 years before he has a chance to get out of prison.
He still faces another capital murder charge in San Antonio, which happened while he was on the run in 2017.
