Jury selection began Monday in Tarrant County for a rapper accused of murdering a man when he was just 16-years-old and, while on the run, committing more crimes and recording a violent music video – even posing in front of a "wanted" poster of himself.
The rapper is known as Tay-K 47 but his real name is Taymor McIntyre, now 19.
In his trial, he’s accused of killing 21-year-old Ethan Walker during a home invasion in Mansfield.
A juvenile court judge later released him on house arrest. McIntyre cut off his ankle monitor and taunted police online while on the run.
"They gn hav to catch me," he said in a tweet.
While a fugitive, he allegedly killed a San Antonio photographer he hired to take pictures of him and robbed and attacked a 65-year-old man in an Arlington park.
He also made a music video called "The Race," which has been viewed 174 million times on YouTube. In the video, he waves guns and at one point appears in front of his own wanted picture.
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Some victims and their families are suing McIntyre and his promoters, saying they shouldn't be allowed to profit off real-life crime. The civil cases won't likely move forward until after the criminal case.
While in the Tarrant County Jail, prosecutors said McIntyre tried to organize a gang.
McIntyre's murder trial is expected to last one week. Opening statements and testimony is set to start Tuesday.
Adults convicted of capital murder automatically receive life sentences without any chance of being released on parole. Because McIntyre was 16 when the crime was committed, he faces 40 years behind bars.
Several of his co-defendants already have been convicted.
