Tay-K, real name Taymor McIntyre, was sentenced to 55 years in prison and fined $10,000 by a Tarrant County jury for a 2016 home invasion and the subsequent murder of Ethan Walker, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. McIntyre was also sentenced for three additional counts of aggravated robbery. He will concurrently serve a 30-year prison sentence for the first, and 13 years each for the remaining two counts from the same robbery. McIntyre potentially faced five to 99 years in prison for each guilty count.
In July 2016, McIntyre was part of a home invasion that left 21-year-old, Ethan Walker, dead and injured Zachary Beloate. “It wasn’t part of the plan. The plan was robbery. Not killing,” Jeff Kearney, one of McIntyre’s defense attorneys told the jury, via Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In 2017, McIntyre went viral after releasing the video for “The Race.” The song was based on the real life event of the young rapper cutting off his ankle bracelet and fleeing home arrest ahead of a court hearing. He was eventually apprehended by U.S. Marshals in New Jersey the same day the song’s video was posted. “I was tryna beat a case/But I ain’t beat that case, bitch, I did the race,” he raps in one of the most infamous lines from the song, which peaked at number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.