The Underground

Texas rapper “Tay-K” has been found ‘not guilty’ of capital murder but ‘guilty’ of murder in the 2017 death of a young photographer named Mark Anthony Salvidar.

Taymore McIntyre now faces up to 99 years in prison after being found guilty of the lesser charge of murder. McIntyre avoided an automatic life sentence through the ‘not guilty’ verdict on the capital murder charge delivered by the jury on Monday.

As he was a minor at the time of the murder, there was no chance he would have faced the death penalty.

The jury will decide his fate over the next few days as they hear further evidence before deciding the punishment. McIntyre now faces anywhere between 5-99 years in prison.

“Tay-K” became a viral sensation in 2017 after his song “The Race” amassed millions of views online. “The Race” was recorded after McIntyre cut-off his ankle monitor whilst on house arrest awaiting trial for two counts of aggravated robbery and went on the run. The music video features McIntyre posing next to his own “Wanted” poster. The song described his run from the police and his troubles with the law.

The murder of Mark Anthony Salvidar took place in San Antonio, Texas whilst law enforcement were still unaware of his whereabouts. McIntyre and an accomplice were planning to rob Salvidar for his camera equipment and lured him into their SUV. After the young photographer escaped, Mcintyre attempted to run him over with his car. Salvidar jumped on the hood of the SUV and began kicking the windscreen, at which point McIntyre exited the vehicle and shot Salvidar once before driving away.

McIntyre was captured by U.S Marshalls two months later in Elizabeth, New Jersey on the 30^th June 2017, coincidently the same day “The Race” was released. He has remained in custody ever since.

After Mcintyre’s sentence is handed down, the judge will then decide whether or not the sentence will run consecutively or concurrently with his 55-year sentence in his aggravated robbery case.

“The Race” has amassed just over 251,000,000 views as of today.