Closing Arguments Are Done in the Yella Beezy Trial: A Dallas Jury Now Holds the Capital Murder Case Against Markies Conway
The defense rested on Tuesday afternoon and both sides argued their last words in a Dallas courtroom — prosecutor Tommy Adams for the state, Toby Shook and John Gussio for Markies Conway, the rapper known as Yella Beezy, who has pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the 2020 killing of MO3. No verdict had been reported in any source read overnight.
DALLAS — The testimony is over, and the last arguments have been made. The defense team for Markies Conway, the Dallas rapper known as Yella Beezy, rested its case on Tuesday afternoon, NBC DFW reported, and closing arguments followed in Judge Chika Anyiam's courtroom after a short recess — the state first, the defense last, and the case placed in the jury's hands.
Conway is charged with capital murder and has pleaded not guilty, denying any involvement. Prosecutors allege he paid Kewon White to kill fellow Dallas rapper MO3, born Melvin Noble, who was shot on Interstate 35 in Dallas in November 2020 — six years ago today, November 11. White was convicted of capital murder in his own trial in September and sentenced to life without parole. None of the allegations against Conway has been decided: that is precisely what the jury now holds.
Tuesday's closings were the two cases in miniature, as carried in FOX 4's full recordings. Prosecutor Tommy Adams made the state's final argument. Defense attorney Toby Shook urged the jurors to find Conway not guilty, arguing the state's case is based on assumptions and lies, and defense attorney John Gussio continued the closing. The argument followed the shape the evidence took: the state rested on Monday just before 4 p.m. after further testimony from lead Dallas police detective Eric Barnes, Judge Anyiam denied the defense's motion to dismiss the charge for lack of evidence, and the defense opened its case with a label marketing executive, Lynn Scott, before resting a day later.
What the jury has been asked to weigh includes the state's money theory — an alleged $40,000 payment, which the defense spent days challenging through the detective who built it — and testimony that White searched "yella beezy net worth" eight days before the killing. Conway faces life in prison if convicted. As of this station's overnight check, no verdict had been reported in any source read this run, and this desk will not print one until a courtroom source reports it — on a case six years in the making, the next fact is the only one that matters, and it belongs to twelve jurors.
