Yella Beezy gets life without parole in MO3 murder-for-hire
Prosecutors said Yella Beezy paid Kewon White $40,000 to kill MO3; White also received life without parole.
Yella Beezy received life without parole after a Dallas County jury convicted him Wednesday of capital murder for hiring the gunman who killed rapper MO3 on a Dallas interstate in 2020.
The jury reached a unanimous verdict against Yella Beezy, 35, whose real name is Markies Conway. MO3, whose real name was Melvin Noble, was killed exactly six years before the verdict.
Prosecutors said Yella Beezy paid Kewon White $40,000 to carry out the shooting after an escalating feud lasting years between the Dallas rappers. Yella Beezy pleaded not guilty, Just Jared reported, and his defense said prosecutors had not proved their case.
“Over a rap beef, we are here for capital murder,” prosecutor Krystal Biggins said.
A jury convicted White of capital murder in September, and he too received life without parole. Billboard described White as an affiliate of Yella Beezy.
In closing arguments, prosecutors played a clip from an earlier interview in which Yella Beezy discussed revenge and said he would “get his lick back.” Biggins compared MO3’s killing to a 2018 roadway shooting that wounded Yella Beezy, who survived three gunshot wounds on a Lewisville tollway that October.
“This is capital murder, and the state has brought you a lot of speculation,” defense attorney John Gussio told the courtroom.
After the verdict, lead prosecutor Tommy Adams told reporters the case had been “one of the most challenging cases over the last six years.” Adams said, “We think they got it right today.”
Family and friends of Yella Beezy cried and hugged in the gallery as the verdict was read. CBS News footage cited by Billboard showed him asking to kiss a family member before being escorted from court, with the request appearing to be denied.
Texas law requires life without parole for an adult convicted of capital murder when prosecutors do not pursue the death penalty. Judge Chikya Anyiam imposed the sentence, Just Jared reported.
MO3, 28, was driving on Interstate 35 in south Dallas around noon on Nov. 11, 2020, when White pulled alongside him, authorities said. Billboard placed the shooting near the Dallas Zoo.
Authorities said White left his vehicle with a gun, and MO3 got out of his own vehicle and ran along the freeway as White fired at him.
Adams said White wore a mask and chased MO3 while firing more than 40 rounds from an AK-47-style pistol. Police said White also shot a bystander inside a car, who survived. MO3 died at a hospital.
A Dallas grand jury indicted Yella Beezy, who was arrested in March 2025. Billboard reported that less than two weeks later, he secured a $750,000 bond after it was reduced from $2 million.
MO3 had more than 800,000 Instagram followers and was best known for a 2019 remix of “Errybody” with Baton Rouge, Louisiana, rapper Boosie Badazz.
Yella Beezy is best known for his 2017 single “That’s On Me,” which reached No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018, and the 2019 song “Bacc At It Again” with Quavo and Gucci Mane. His singles released this year include “Where I Been,” “Let Me Vent” and “Sweet Nothings” with K Camp.
