Michael Boatwright, the 22-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting XXXTentacion, says police violated his rights when they interrogated him weeks after the rapper was killed. According to The Blast, Boatwright filed a motion requesting that his statements to police not be admissible in court.
On July 5, 2018, police arrested Boatwright on an unrelated drug charge and took him to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office where he was interrogated about the murder case. Several minutes into questioning, Boatwright allegedly told authorities that he no longer wanted to talk, but investigators continued with questioning. His attorneys allege that Boatwright wasn’t read his Miranda Rights (giving him the right to remain silent) until after a DNA sample was taken. Five days later, police obtained a warrant for Boatwright in connection with XXXTentacion’s murder.
Boatwright has since been indicted for the 20-year-old rapper’s murder and remains locked up as he awaits trial. Police have also arrested and charged Dedrick Devonshay Williams and Robert Allen, both 22, and Trayvon Newsome, 20, in connection with the murder.
XXXTentacion, whose birth name was Jahseh Malfoy, was gunned down outside of a South Florida motorcycle shop in June 2018.