A lawsuit claims a teenage rapper from Arlington known as Tay-K 47 cashed in on a recording contract during an alleged violent crime spree that ended with two dead and two others injured.
The plaintiffs, made up of victims and their family members, claim they deserve the money made off of music released while the accused killer was on the run, not the record company or the rapper.
The suit, filed in Tarrant County District Court, names the artist, whose real name is Taymor McIntyre, and his record company, 88 Classic Records, and seeks more than $1 million in damages.
McIntyre, 18, was arrested last year in New Jersey after weeks on the run. He’s currently in the Tarrant County Jail, held on a capital murder charge without bond.
McIntyre was just 16 when he was arrested in 2016 for the murder of 21-year-old Ethan Walker. Walker was killed during a home invasion and robbery in Arlington; McIntyre also was accused of shooting Walker’s roommate, Zachary Beloate.
McIntyre was released from a juvenile detention facility and cut off his ankle monitor in March 2017, police said.
The following month, while on the run, he attacked a man in an Arlington park and murdered another man in San Antonio, police said.
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While a fugitive, McIntyre released a popular song and video called 'The Race' in which he waves a pistol and even posed next to a wanted poster of himself.
McIntyre was later arrested in New Jersey.
“McIntyre was encouraged and/or manipulated by his manager and/or 88 Classic Records to commit crimes in order to promote sales of his music,” the lawsuit says.
'The Race' has been viewed more than 15 million times on YouTube.
McIntyre’s attorney, Jeffrey Kearney of Fort Worth, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the lawsuit. Nobody from the record company could be reached for comment.
