Dedrick Williams, one of XXXTentacion's killer, names Drake as possible suspect in appeal filing 

Dedrick Williams, one of rapper XXXTentacion's alleged killers, has named rapper Drake as a possible suspect in an appeal filed in November 2024. Williams is one of the three defendants facing charges for the 2018 murder and robbery of Tentacion.

Williams' new appeal was composed by his attorney, Mauricio Padilla, who discussed the petition in an interview with Law&Crime Network on November 30, 2024. Padilla said:

"Prior to him [XXXTentacion] being murdered he had posted on Instagram if anybody kills me I'm snitching right now it's Champagne Papi. I'm paraphrasing but something to that effect. Imagine the dead said prior to his death if anybody kills me it's Champagne Papi, which is Drake's Instagram name."

He added:

"I laid out in extreme detail all of my defense witnesses list which included many rappers because the victim in this case was a rapper. He had feuds ongoing public feuds with not only Drake but a lot of rappers that are either signed to OVO or related to Drake in some way."

For those uninformed, rapper XXXTentacion was shot to death in 2018 outside a motorcycle shop in South Florida. Three men, namely Michael Boatwright, 27, Dedrick Williams, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24, were charged with first-degree murder and burglary in relation to the rapper's death.

In March 2023, the three men were convicted of their charges. The armed robbery was also captured via CCTV cameras and the footage was presented in court.

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Why is Drake named in XXXTentacion's murder trial?

Rolling Loud Los Angeles 2018 - Image via Getty

In his interview with Law&Crime Network, Dedrick Williams' attorney, Mauricio Padilla alleged Drizzy's role in the murder of the XXXTentacion. He specifically referred to an incident involving popular hip-hop streamer, DJ Akademiks.

Padilla recalled an incident when Akademiks spoke to Tentacion, originally named Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, asking him about his alleged feud with Drizzy. He described that Onfroy had reportedly posted an image of Drizzy's mother or a "lookalike" of the rapper. In that conversation, Akademiks had allegedly told Onfroy to be careful of the Toronto-based rapper.

"In that conversation, DJ Akademiks said that he [XXXTencacion] better be careful because even though -- I'm paraphrasing again-- he's not a gangster you may be pushing him as a reaction," Padilla alleged.

Further, Padilla mentioned that XXXTentacion deleted his story about Drizzy after the aforementioned conversation and claimed his account was hacked. It is worth noting that Padilla mentioned certain lyrics and one of Onfroy's 2018 Instagram posts as evidence against Drake in the court documents.

The post in question read,

"if anyone kills me it was @champagnepapi (Drizzy's Instagram ID)…I’m snitching.”

However, Onfroy had later deleted the story and claimed his account had been hacked.

Further, Padilla claimed in his aforementioned interview that XXXTentacion's mother, Cleopatra Bernard, was also aware of his supposed feud with the Toronto-based rapper. She had mentioned the same in her legal documents, claimed Padilla.

According to Rolling Stone, Drake had faced a deposition to testify via Zoom in court on February 24, 2023. However, the rapper did not show up. At that time, Padilla had requested the court to send an "order" so the rapper is compelled to testify at court.

“This is one of the biggest celebrities in the world. Excluding an order from this court, we all know that I will never be able to take his deposition," Padilla had said.

In March 2023, Padilla's client Dedrick Williams, alongside two of the other accused members, was convicted of first-degree murder and burglary. As per CBS, XXXTentacion suffered multiple gunshot wounds at the time of his death. The rapper was reportedly sitting in the driver's seat of his BMW. Another family relative was reportedly also seated in the passenger's seat but escaped on time. According to the testimony, those accused escaped with $50,000 in cash which was in a Louis Vuitton satchel.

All three men were sentenced to lifetime in prison for the death of XXXTentacion.