Last updated: 12:45 PM ET, Oct 27, 2026

Dallas rapper Yella Beezy, whose legal name is Markies Conway, went on trial in Dallas County on a capital murder charge, with opening statements and testimony beginning Tuesday, a day after the jury was seated. He is accused of paying for the 2020 killing of fellow Dallas rapper MO3, whose legal name was Melvin Noble. He has pleaded not guilty, according to WFAA, FOX 4 and CBS Texas, and is presumed innocent unless the state proves its case.

According to WFAA and NBC DFW, prosecutors allege Conway paid $40,000 to Kewon White, whom a separate jury convicted of capital murder in September as the gunman. FOX 4 reports Conway faces up to life in prison if convicted. State District Judge Chika Anyiam is presiding, and CBS Texas reports the judge expects the trial to last two to three weeks.

Prosecutor Tommy Adams opened mid-morning; WFAA logged his opening at 9:30 a.m. CT (10:30 AM ET) and FOX 4 at 9:45 a.m. CT (10:45 AM ET). According to WFAA, he traced the killing to a feud between Noble and Conway that began in 2017. “We’re building a puzzle,” Adams said, per WFAA. “You will have the pieces of that puzzle to find the defendant guilty of capital murder.” FOX 4 reports he said jurors will see evidence from federal and state law enforcement, including surveillance footage, travel logs and text messages.

Defense attorney Toby Shook told jurors the state’s $40,000 theory is flawed. WFAA reports Shook said the cash police found with White was drug money unrelated to the killing and did not come “fresh out of the bank,” and that police developed “tunnel vision” and wrongly zeroed in on Conway. According to FOX 4, Shook contrasted the crisp large bills from Conway’s bank withdrawal with the mixed, small-denomination cash recovered from White and pointed to what the defense called co-defendant Devin Brown’s personal animosity toward Noble as an overlooked motive. Brown has pleaded not guilty and has not yet gone to trial.

Noble’s mother testified first. She told jurors her son had told her he would be in California on a video shoot and would be back on Nov. 11, 2020, and that she learned of the shooting from a string of missed calls, according to WFAA and FOX 4. FOX 4 reports she testified that after the shooting she told investigators to look into four people, including Yella Beezy. On cross-examination, the defense separated the MO3 stage persona from the father of three his family called “Bubba,” FOX 4 reports.

Two women who were driving on I-35 that day testified next. WFAA identifies the first as Tamatha Hopkins, who testified that she pulled up beside a stopped car and saw a man getting out “pulling a mask down over his face” with a gun in his hand. FOX 4, which did not name her, reports she said the man cursed at her and told her to “get the f--- out of here.” Jurors heard her 911 call and saw freeway video, per WFAA; FOX 4 reports the video included delivery-truck dash camera footage of the shooting.

WFAA reports the state then called Tracey Kappler, another I-35 motorist, who described the shooting. FOX 4, which did not name the second woman to testify, reports she said Noble died right in front of her car, that she tried calling 911 but couldn’t get through, and that she took photos after the gunshots stopped, which prosecutors showed jurors. FOX 4 reports the defense did not cross-examine either woman.

Trial updates

Times ET (court is in Dallas, CT + 1 hour). Newest first. WFAA and FOX 4 timestamps differ by 15 minutes to an hour, so each time is tied to the outlet that logged it.

  • 12:30 PM – Former Dallas County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jeffrey Barnard, who performed Noble’s autopsy, testifies about his injuries and cause of death; jurors are shown autopsy photos. (WFAA, 11:30 a.m. CT; FOX 4, 11:20 a.m. CT)

  • 12:20 PM – Dallas Fire-Rescue Capt. Chris Bloodgood testifies about efforts to save Noble’s life. (FOX 4, 11:20 a.m. CT; WFAA lists him as called after Kappler)

  • 12:00 PM – Two I-35 motorists testify; the defense does not cross-examine either. (FOX 4, 11 a.m. CT)

  • 11:50 AM – Second I-35 motorist, Tracey Kappler, testifies; Capt. Bloodgood is called next. (WFAA, 10:50 a.m. CT)

  • 11:00 AM – I-35 motorist Tamatha Hopkins testifies; jurors hear a 911 call and see freeway video. Mid-morning recess follows. (WFAA, 10 a.m. CT)

  • 10:45–11:00 AM – MO3’s mother testifies as the state’s first witness. (WFAA, 9:45 a.m. CT; FOX 4, 10 a.m. CT)

  • 10:30–10:45 AM – Opening statements from prosecutor Tommy Adams and defense attorney Toby Shook. (WFAA, 9:30 a.m. CT; FOX 4, 9:45 a.m. CT)

  • 10:30 AM – A juror is dismissed over a child care issue; an alternate is seated. (FOX 4, 9:30 a.m. CT)

  • 10:00 AM – Conway enters the courtroom. (FOX 4, 9 a.m. CT)

Background

Noble, 28, was shot around noon on Nov. 11, 2020, on northbound Interstate 35E near Clarendon Drive, near the Dallas Zoo, according to The Dallas Morning News and WFAA. Police said a gunman chased him on foot after he fled his car, and a bystander was wounded and survived, the Morning News reports.

White was arrested weeks after the shooting, according to the Morning News. On Sept. 4, a jury convicted White, now 27, of capital murder, and Anyiam sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, the Morning News and WFAA.

A Dallas County grand jury indicted Conway in March 2025 on a charge of capital murder while remuneration, and he was arrested March 20, 2025, according to the Associated Press, the Morning News and WFAA. Prosecutors say the killing grew out of an ongoing conflict between the two rappers. The Morning News reports Conway is the second of four defendants to stand trial. According to the Morning News, prosecutors accuse Devin Brown of helping track Noble before the shooting. Brown has pleaded not guilty and has not been tried. WFAA, which describes Brown as the third defendant, reports prosecutors allege Brown was also paid by Conway to kill Noble, and that court records show his trial is expected to begin in early November. The Morning News also reports Anyiam barred most of the rap lyrics prosecutors sought to introduce but will allow some.