Dallas rap rival murder-for-hire trial begins on Monday

DALLAS - The key defendants in a rap rival murder for hire case are facing trial next week.

Melvin Noble, who went by MO3, was chased and gunned down on Interstate 35 in Dallas in 2020.

Jury selection begins Monday for his accused hitman – Kewon White.

MO3 Murder

Prosecutors allege Yella Beezy, whose legal name is Markies Conway, was the man who paid White to kill Noble. Conway was seemingly involved in a rap beef with Noble before the shooting.

White allegedly stopped Noble in the middle of the busy interstate and shot him. 

A third defendant, Devin Brown, is also charged with murder. Prosecutors said he was in the car with White and was seen in surveillance video walking up Noble while wearing a ski mask.

Friday’s Pretrial Hearing

The biggest takeaway from a pretrial hearing on Friday was that Dallas Police Department Det. Eric Barnes, who has done a lot of investigations involving Dallas rappers, will not be able to serve as an expert witness on the rap music.

This is important because the prosecution claims Conway’s song lyrics mentioned putting a bounty on MO3.

"For the sake of judicial efficiency, and not waste time of the jury or the court, that court will designate that hearing as our hearing and will designate Eric Neilson as an expert on those matters but not designate Det. Barnes as an expert on those matter," said Judge Chika Anyiam.

So, Det. Barnes will not be an expert witness for the prosecution, but Eric Nelson will be an expert for the defense. Nelson is a liberal arts professor who testified in earlier hearings that rap lyrics are often exaggerated and should not be taken literally.

Jury Selection

There will be a pool of 77 jurors on Monday.

As it stands now, the first defendant to face trial will be White.

However, the judge told Conway and Brown’s legal teams to be ready to start on Monday too if something changes.

DallasCrime and Public Safety