Texas
Rapper Yella Beezy convicted of hiring gunman who fatally shot rapper MO3
DALLAS (AP) — Rapper Yella Beezy was found guilty on Wednesday of hiring the gunman who fatally shot rapper MO3 in a brazen daylight attack on a busy Dallas interstate in 2020.
Yella Beezy, 35, whose real name is Markies Conway, was unanimously convicted of capital murder by a Dallas County jury in the death of MO3, whose real name was Melvin Noble. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In September, a jury found Kewon White guilty of capital murder for fatally shooting Noble. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said the killing was the result of an yearslong escalating feud between Conway and Noble. Both men lived in Dallas.
Prosecutors said Conway paid White $40,000 for the shooting.
Noble, 28, was driving on Interstate 35 in south Dallas around noon on Nov. 11, 2020, when White pulled alongside him, authorities said. White stepped out of his vehicle holding a gun. Noble got out of his own vehicle and began running on the freeway as White shot at him, authorities said.
Prosecutor Tommy Adams said White wore a mask and fired over 40 rounds from an AK-47-style pistol while chasing Noble.
White shot Noble and a bystander who was inside a car, police said. The bystander survived, but Noble died at a hospital.
During closing arguments, prosecutors showed jurors a video clip of Conway talking about revenge in an interview, saying he would “get his lick back.” Prosecutor Krystal Biggins drew a comparison between Noble’s killing and a roadway shooting that injured Conway in 2018.
In October 2018, Conway survived being shot while driving on a tollway in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville when someone pulled up next to him and opened fire, hitting him three times.
“This was for the world to see,” Biggins said. “Over a rap beef, we are here for capital murder.”
The defense argued that prosecutors did not prove their case. “This is capital murder, and the state has brought you a lot of speculation,” defense attorney John Gussio said.
Noble had more than 800,000 Instagram followers and was best known for a 2019 remix of “Errybody,” with Baton Rouge, Louisiana, rapper Boosie Badazz.
Conway is best known for his 2017 single, “That’s On Me,” and the 2019 song “Bacc At It Again” with Quavo and Gucci Mane.
California
2 beloved street vendors identified as victims of LA metro crash
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have identified two of the three women killed when the driver of a minivan crashed outside a Los Angeles metro station this week.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the women as Teodora Villalobos, 57, and Maria Peck, 73. Both were killed on the sidewalk Tuesday by blunt force injuries, the medical examiner’s office said.
Authorities did not immediately release the identity of the third victim, pending the notification of family, the medical examiner’s office said in an email on Thursday.
Peck and Villalobos were food vendors in Los Angeles’ North Hollywood neighborhood who were killed when the minivan plowed into a busy intersection during the height of the evening commute.
Police arrested the driver, 61-year-old Ihor Demianenko, for investigation of driving under the influence and three counts of murder. His bail was set at $6 million. It was not immediately known when he would appear in court.
Ohio
Police investigate whether burned OSU students were victims of fraternity hazing
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police are investigating whether two Ohio State University students who were treated for deep burns after being engulfed in flames at an outdoor fraternity party were victims of hazing.
The university placed the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity on interim suspension after a video circulated on social media showing a large group surrounding two young men on fire Saturday. A student who watched the video called police the next day to report a possible hazing incident, according to an audio recording of the call.
“They stood around watching while this kid just burned,” said the student, who was sent the video in a group chat with her sorority members.
The video shows a ring of people standing outside, many wearing the school’s red and white colors, laughing and shouting at two men on the ground with their pants on fire. One lunges at the other, and they both roll on the ground. The shouting takes on a more panicked tone as they struggle to remove their clothing. One onlooker holds a small fire extinguisher but doesn’t successfully deploy it.
According to the Columbus Police report, the victims were both students who were treated for “moderate” second- and third-degree burns. The university has not said how the fraternity is linked to the event, but the report lists the president of the fraternity as part of the investigation.
The report also lists hazing as the charge being investigated and notes that university authorities also are looking into whether hazing occurred.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed “Collin’s Law” in 2021 toughening penalties for hazing in the wake of a student’s death at a fraternity house at Ohio University. The law’s definition of hazing includes participating in or coercing anyone into behavior that creates a substantial risk of mental or physical harm and is tied to initiation into an organization or continued membership.
Under that law and the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2024, Ohio State maintains a public list of hazing violations and penalties. It shows that so far this year, four fraternities, one sorority and one co-ed group have been sanctioned for hazing. Sigma Alpha Epsilon does not appear on the list for the last five years, though the student newspaper The Lantern said it has been sanctioned at least seven times since 2001.
According to the newspaper’s archives, the chapter over the years has been found to have violated policies related to alcohol, hazing and endangering behavior, and at one point had its disciplinary probation extended for failing to comply with sanctions.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon eliminated its “pledging” process for all its chapters nationwide in 2014 in part due to injuries and deaths.
In 2022, 46 members of the SAE chapter at the University of New Hampshire were charged with hazing. Most agreed to perform community service and avoided conviction; the three who went to trial were acquitted because the judge said the state didn’t prove the acts were a “condition of initiation into, continued membership in or association with” the fraternity.
Rapper Yella Beezy convicted of hiring gunman who fatally shot rapper MO3
DALLAS (AP) — Rapper Yella Beezy was found guilty on Wednesday of hiring the gunman who fatally shot rapper MO3 in a brazen daylight attack on a busy Dallas interstate in 2020.
Yella Beezy, 35, whose real name is Markies Conway, was unanimously convicted of capital murder by a Dallas County jury in the death of MO3, whose real name was Melvin Noble. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In September, a jury found Kewon White guilty of capital murder for fatally shooting Noble. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said the killing was the result of an yearslong escalating feud between Conway and Noble. Both men lived in Dallas.
Prosecutors said Conway paid White $40,000 for the shooting.
Noble, 28, was driving on Interstate 35 in south Dallas around noon on Nov. 11, 2020, when White pulled alongside him, authorities said. White stepped out of his vehicle holding a gun. Noble got out of his own vehicle and began running on the freeway as White shot at him, authorities said.
Prosecutor Tommy Adams said White wore a mask and fired over 40 rounds from an AK-47-style pistol while chasing Noble.
White shot Noble and a bystander who was inside a car, police said. The bystander survived, but Noble died at a hospital.
During closing arguments, prosecutors showed jurors a video clip of Conway talking about revenge in an interview, saying he would “get his lick back.” Prosecutor Krystal Biggins drew a comparison between Noble’s killing and a roadway shooting that injured Conway in 2018.
In October 2018, Conway survived being shot while driving on a tollway in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville when someone pulled up next to him and opened fire, hitting him three times.
“This was for the world to see,” Biggins said. “Over a rap beef, we are here for capital murder.”
The defense argued that prosecutors did not prove their case. “This is capital murder, and the state has brought you a lot of speculation,” defense attorney John Gussio said.
Noble had more than 800,000 Instagram followers and was best known for a 2019 remix of “Errybody,” with Baton Rouge, Louisiana, rapper Boosie Badazz.
Conway is best known for his 2017 single, “That’s On Me,” and the 2019 song “Bacc At It Again” with Quavo and Gucci Mane.
California
2 beloved street vendors identified as victims of LA metro crash
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have identified two of the three women killed when the driver of a minivan crashed outside a Los Angeles metro station this week.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the women as Teodora Villalobos, 57, and Maria Peck, 73. Both were killed on the sidewalk Tuesday by blunt force injuries, the medical examiner’s office said.
Authorities did not immediately release the identity of the third victim, pending the notification of family, the medical examiner’s office said in an email on Thursday.
Peck and Villalobos were food vendors in Los Angeles’ North Hollywood neighborhood who were killed when the minivan plowed into a busy intersection during the height of the evening commute.
Police arrested the driver, 61-year-old Ihor Demianenko, for investigation of driving under the influence and three counts of murder. His bail was set at $6 million. It was not immediately known when he would appear in court.
Ohio
Police investigate whether burned OSU students were victims of fraternity hazing
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police are investigating whether two Ohio State University students who were treated for deep burns after being engulfed in flames at an outdoor fraternity party were victims of hazing.
The university placed the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity on interim suspension after a video circulated on social media showing a large group surrounding two young men on fire Saturday. A student who watched the video called police the next day to report a possible hazing incident, according to an audio recording of the call.
“They stood around watching while this kid just burned,” said the student, who was sent the video in a group chat with her sorority members.
The video shows a ring of people standing outside, many wearing the school’s red and white colors, laughing and shouting at two men on the ground with their pants on fire. One lunges at the other, and they both roll on the ground. The shouting takes on a more panicked tone as they struggle to remove their clothing. One onlooker holds a small fire extinguisher but doesn’t successfully deploy it.
According to the Columbus Police report, the victims were both students who were treated for “moderate” second- and third-degree burns. The university has not said how the fraternity is linked to the event, but the report lists the president of the fraternity as part of the investigation.
The report also lists hazing as the charge being investigated and notes that university authorities also are looking into whether hazing occurred.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed “Collin’s Law” in 2021 toughening penalties for hazing in the wake of a student’s death at a fraternity house at Ohio University. The law’s definition of hazing includes participating in or coercing anyone into behavior that creates a substantial risk of mental or physical harm and is tied to initiation into an organization or continued membership.
Under that law and the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2024, Ohio State maintains a public list of hazing violations and penalties. It shows that so far this year, four fraternities, one sorority and one co-ed group have been sanctioned for hazing. Sigma Alpha Epsilon does not appear on the list for the last five years, though the student newspaper The Lantern said it has been sanctioned at least seven times since 2001.
According to the newspaper’s archives, the chapter over the years has been found to have violated policies related to alcohol, hazing and endangering behavior, and at one point had its disciplinary probation extended for failing to comply with sanctions.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon eliminated its “pledging” process for all its chapters nationwide in 2014 in part due to injuries and deaths.
In 2022, 46 members of the SAE chapter at the University of New Hampshire were charged with hazing. Most agreed to perform community service and avoided conviction; the three who went to trial were acquitted because the judge said the state didn’t prove the acts were a “condition of initiation into, continued membership in or association with” the fraternity.
