Rapper Tay-K convicted of murder for second time in Texas

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas rapper who performed as Tay-K and was best known for his 2017 single “The Race” was convicted of murder for a second time after a jury found him guilty of fatally shooting a San Antonio man.

Taymor McIntyre faces up to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the killing of 23-year-old Mark Anthony Saldivar in 2017. McIntyre had already been been serving a 55-year sentence over a separate fatal shooting.

Prosecutors said that McIntyre shot Saldivar after the rapper tried to rob him. Authorities said McIntyre had picked up Saldivar, who was a photographer, in a car after asking him to take photos of the rapper for a new song.

McIntyre’s attorneys had criticized the police investigation of the shooting, alleging the case relied too much on self-serving statements from witnesses in the car when the shooting happened.

“Taymor McIntyre is not guilty of capital murder, murder, or manslaughter, and the reason for that is very simple,” John Hunter, one of McIntyre’s attorneys, told jurors during closing arguments last week. “You have to do it right. You have to do the work. And this case clearly demonstrates the work wasn’t done.”

The jury found McIntyre not guilty of capital murder, which would have meant a life sentence without the chance of parole. The jury will now hear evidence in the trial’s punishment phase before deciding on a sentence.

McIntyre was also convicted in 2019 for the shooting death of 21-year-old Ethan Walker during a home invasion in 2016 in Mansfield, southeast of Fort Worth, Texas.

McIntyre recorded “The Race” while he was on the run from authorities for the home invasion.