Houston Cell-Tower Records Were Part of the Evidence in the Yella Beezy Trial That Ended in a Capital-Murder Conviction

DALLAS — A Dallas County jury unanimously convicted Markies Conway, 35, professionally known as Yella Beezy, of capital murder on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026, in the death of Melvin Noble, 28, professionally known as MO3. Judge Chika Anyiam of Criminal District Court No. 7 immediately imposed life in prison without parole.

Houston entered the Dallas courtroom through the phone records. FBI agent Taylor Page presented cell records in the case, including records showing both phones on the same Houston towers around Nov. 3, 2020, about a week before the killing. That Houston overlap was part of a broader records case prosecutors assembled from phones, banks, searches, and video rather than from any single piece of evidence.

The rest of that record was extensive. Jurors heard about Kewon White's Google search for “yella beezy net worth” eight days before the killing, bank records, and a Nov. 9, 2020, text from Conway — “don't grab no gun” — whose meaning the two sides disputed. Cedric Bradley testified under a proffer agreement, and the jury saw dashcam video, heard a 911 call, and received autopsy testimony about Noble's wounds.

The shooting those records pointed back to happened on Nov. 11, 2020, around noon, on I-35E in south Dallas near Clarendon Drive and Illinois Avenue, near the Dallas Zoo. White pulled alongside Noble, stepped out masked, and chased him on foot, firing more than 40 rounds from an AK-47-style pistol. Noble was struck 11 times and died at a hospital. A bystander in a car was also shot and survived. Wednesday's verdict fell exactly six years to the day after the killing.

Conway was charged with capital murder by remuneration — murder for hire — under Texas Penal Code §19.03(a)(3), and prosecutors said he paid White $40,000. The state's own earlier account complicated that figure: in White's trial, the state said Conway withdrew $40,000 in cash on Nov. 20, 2020, and White ultimately received $20,000, and Detective Eric Barnes conceded the cash could not be directly traced. Because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty here, life without parole under Texas Penal Code §12.31(a) was the mandatory and only sentence on conviction.

Jury selection started Oct. 26, 2026, testimony ran for 11 days, and closing arguments were heard Tuesday, Nov. 10. Deliberations began Wednesday, Nov. 11, at about 9 a.m., and the verdict came the same day after several hours. Conway pleaded not guilty and denied involvement. His defense lawyers, Toby Shook and John Gussio, said the state had offered “a lot of speculation,” in Gussio's words, emphasized the untraced cash, and pointed to the recantation of grand-jury witness Theodore Thomas, also known as Jose Bodega.

Prosecutors located the motive in a feud they dated to 2017, when, Detective Barnes testified, an online dispute involved comedian Roy Lee Pate, a friend of MO3. In October 2018 Conway was shot three times driving on the Sam Rayburn Tollway in Lewisville and survived, a fact prosecutors presented as motive context. Closing arguments included a 2019 interview clip of Conway talking about getting his “lick back,” and prosecutor Krystal Biggins summed up the state's framing: “Over a rap beef, we are here for capital murder.”

For Houston readers following the victim's side of the record, Noble's career was the life the evidence was about. The North Dallas rapper released his debut mixtape Shottaz in 2014 and built “Errybody” into his signature song, with a 2019 remix featuring Boosie Badazz. He had more than 800,000 Instagram followers and released the Badazz MO3 mixtape in February 2020, months before his death. His mother was the first witness at Conway's trial, and there were no victim-impact statements in this case.

Conway's career formed the other half of the courtroom picture. The Oak Cliff rapper scored with “That's On Me” in 2017 and “Bacc At It Again” in 2019 alongside Quavo and Gucci Mane, signed with L.A. Reid's Hitco Entertainment, and opened for Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Many people in court were crying at the verdict, including his young son, according to WFAA. Free on bond during the trial, Conway was taken into custody afterward.

The companion cases are in different places. White was unanimously convicted of capital murder on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, after an eight-day trial and sentenced by Judge Anyiam to life without parole; he filed a notice of appeal and a new-trial motion alleging a sleeping juror, with no ruling reported, and before his sentencing Noble's mother forgave him — “I love you” — in a victim-impact statement as he cried. Devin Brown, charged with capital murder, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial; prosecutors alleged he helped track Noble, and Conway's defense pointed to Brown as an alternative suspect. White was arrested Dec. 9, 2020, Brown in April 2021, and Conway was indicted March 18, 2025, arrested March 20, 2025, saw his $2 million bond reduced to $750,000 by Judge Gracie Lewis, and was released March 28, 2025, on house arrest and monitoring. Prosecutor Tommy Adams said jurors “got it right,” and Shook is planning an appeal for Conway, which has not been filed.