Rapper Tay-K, whose real name is Taymor McIntyre, has been sentenced to 80 years in prison for his role in the 2017 killing of a photographer in San Antonio.
A jury found the 24-year-old guilty of murdering Mark Anthony Saldivar, and the sentencing came the following day after hours of emotional testimony. Saldivar was shot and killed after Tay-K allegedly stole his camera equipment.
“You’re still alive—you still have a chance to better yourself,” Judge Stephanie Boyd told Tay-K in court. “But the victim in this case is gone, and you need to understand that.”
The sentence adds another chapter to Tay-K’s long list of legal troubles. This particular case dates back to when he was just 16 years old. Prosecutors said Tay-K shot Saldivar during a robbery, and while he was initially charged with capital murder, that was later downgraded to a murder charge.
Tay-K’s defense team pushed back hard, saying the case leaned too heavily on questionable witness testimony from people who were in the car with him that day. “The work wasn’t done,” his attorney John Hunter told the jury. “That’s why Taymor McIntyre is not guilty.”
But the jury didn’t see it that way.
This isn’t Tay-K’s first time facing a major sentence. In 2019, he was sentenced to 55 years for his role in a deadly 2016 home invasion that left 21-year-old Ethan Walker dead. Around that time, Tay-K gained national attention for his viral track “The Race,” which he recorded while on the run from police.
Now, the rapper will serve his time in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, where he remains in custody.
