Under Texas Law, the Yella Beezy Verdict Left Only One Sentence: Life in Prison Without Parole

DALLAS — A Dallas County jury on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, unanimously convicted Markies Conway, 35, the rapper known professionally as Yella Beezy, of capital murder in the death of Melvin Noble, 28, the rapper known professionally as MO3. Judge Chika Anyiam of Criminal District Court No. 7 imposed the sentence immediately after the verdict: life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The charge matters because of how Texas writes its murder law. Conway was charged with capital murder by remuneration — murder for hire — under Texas Penal Code §19.03(a)(3), the provision that elevates a killing to a capital offense when the state proves it was committed for payment or the promise of payment. Prosecutors said Conway paid Kewon White $40,000 to carry out the killing.

Once the jury returned its verdict, the sentencing range had already collapsed to a single outcome. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, and under Texas Penal Code §12.31(a), when the state waives death in a capital case, life imprisonment without parole is the mandatory sentence. Judge Anyiam had no lesser term to choose from and no discretion to exercise — the statute, not the court, set the punishment.

The killing at the center of the case happened exactly six years before the verdict, on Nov. 11, 2020, around noon on Interstate 35E in south Dallas, near Clarendon Drive and Illinois Avenue by the Dallas Zoo. Prosecutors said White pulled alongside Noble's car, stepped out wearing a mask, and chased Noble on foot, firing more than 40 rounds from an AK-47-style pistol. Noble was struck 11 times and died at a hospital. A bystander in a car was also shot and survived. Dashcam video and a 911 call from that day were shown to the jury.

The payment allegation — the element that made this a capital case — was also the most contested part of the proof. Prosecutors said Conway paid White $40,000, but in White's own earlier trial the state described a different path for the money: Conway withdrew $40,000 in cash on Nov. 20, 2020, and White ultimately received $20,000. Detective Eric Barnes conceded the cash could not be directly traced from Conway to White.

Conway pleaded not guilty and denied any involvement. His lawyers, Toby Shook and John Gussio, argued the state had built its case on inference. Gussio told jurors the state brought "a lot of speculation," pointing to the absence of direct cash tracing and to a grand-jury witness, Theodore Thomas, also known as Jose Bodega, who recanted his earlier account. Prosecutor Tommy Adams said jurors "got it right."

The trial moved on a tight schedule for a capital case. Jury selection began Oct. 26, 2026, followed by 11 days of testimony and closing arguments on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Deliberations began Wednesday around 9 a.m., and the unanimous verdict came the same day, after several hours. Noble's mother was the trial's first witness. There were no victim-impact statements in Conway's case, and Conway, who had been free on bond during the trial, was taken into custody after the verdict.

Conway was not the only defendant the law has processed in this killing. White was convicted of capital murder on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, by a unanimous jury after an eight-day trial, and Judge Anyiam sentenced him to life without parole; he has filed a notice of appeal and a motion for a new trial alleging a sleeping juror, on which no ruling has been reported. Devin Brown, also charged with capital murder, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, with no confirmed date; prosecutors alleged he helped track Noble, while Conway's defense pointed to Brown as an alternative suspect.

What remains is an appeal that has not yet been filed. Shook is planning one, and the distinction matters: a planned appeal changes nothing about custody or sentence today. An appeal, if filed, asks a higher court to review the trial record for legal error — it is not a new trial, it does not reweigh the jury's verdict from scratch, and because the sentence here was fixed by §12.31(a), no appeal of the punishment alone could substitute a lesser term the statute does not allow. Conway's indictment came on March 18, 2025, followed by his arrest on March 20, 2025; his $2 million bond was reduced to $750,000 by Judge Gracie Lewis, and he was released on March 28, 2025, under house arrest and monitoring — an arrangement that ended when the jury spoke on Wednesday.