Rapper Tay-K was sentenced to 80 years in prison for the 2017 murder of 23-year-old Mark Anthony Saldivar in San Antonio. The verdict followed a two-week trial, ending late Tuesday night, April 15, 2025, when 187th District Court Judge Stephanie Boyd delivered the sentence after extensive testimony. Much of it focused on the young artist’s troubled upbringing.
“I do realize that while this is a lot of time, you’re still alive. You can still better yourself,” Boyd said. “But the complainant in this case is deceased, and you need to internalize that…You’re going to have to make changes.”
Tay-K was found guilty of murder rather than capital murder, facing life with the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said he tried to rob Saldivar, a photographer he had picked up for a photoshoot, and then shot him in a Chick-fil-A parking lot. Tay-K was just 16 at the time.
The defense argued police leaned too heavily on biased witness accounts. “You have to do it right. You have to do the work. And this case clearly demonstrates the work wasn’t done,” said defense attorney John Hunter.
A forensic psychologist testified that the performer’s brain was still developing and cited childhood trauma, including drug abuse and foster care. He was also serving a 55-year sentence for a separate 2016 murder. Both sentences will run concurrently.
A representative for Saldivar’s family said Tay-K stole “dreams, ambitions, aspirations and goals.”
In a related case, Tay-K, best known for his hit 2017 track “The Race,” has been convicted of murder for the second time. The 24-year-old, whose real name is Taymor McIntyre, was previously sentenced to 55 years behind bars in 2019 in connection to the murder of 21-year-old Ethan Walker during a botched home invasion.
Six years later, the California native is facing an additional five to 99 years in prison after being found guilty for fatally shooting a photographer while on the run from police for the initial killing, which took place in 2016.
According to the arrest warrant relating to the second killing, the rapper acted as an accessory as part of a group who picked up the 23-year-old photographer in San Antonio, Texas, for a photoshoot taking place nearby. During the drive to a mall for the photoshoot, Saldivar was robbed at gunpoint of his camera and photo equipment before being fatally shot, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
Tay-K was 17 years old at the time of the killing. One of the rapper’s attorneys told jurors last week that police relied too heavily on statements from witnesses in the car during the investigation.
“Taymor McIntyre is not guilty of capital murder, murder, or manslaughter, and the reason for that is very simple,” Tay-K’s attorney John Hunter said in court. “You have to do it right. You have to do the work. And this case clearly demonstrates the work wasn’t done.”
At the time of the second murder, the rapper released his hit song “The Race.” Just hours after he released the video for the single on June 30, 2017, police arrested him in New Jersey. The song’s music video has since amassed over 251 million views on YouTube.
The rapper was handed a 30-year prison sentence and a $5,000 fine on one count of aggravated robbery. He was also given an additional 13 years in prison and a $3,000 fine for the remaining two counts of aggravated robbery relating to the botched home invasion in 2016. Tay-K must serve at least half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
The 24-year-old, whose real name is Taymor McIntyre, was previously sentenced to 55 years behind bars in 2019 for his involvement in another murder. Photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar, 23, was murdered by a group of men, including Tay-K, in April 2017.
Tay-K was placed on house arrest at the time and ordered to wear an ankle monitor. Meanwhile, Latharian Merritt, the man accused of shooting Walker, was handed a life sentence for the killing. While the jury found Tay-K guilty of murdering Mark Anthony Saldivar, in April 2017, they did not find him guilty of capital murder — which carries an automatic life sentence, News 4 San Antonio reports.
After removing his ankle monitor, the rapper escaped house arrest just before a court hearing related to his involvement in a 2016 home invasion, which took place when he was 16. At the time of Saldivar’s death, Tay-K released “The Race,” which was recorded and posted just hours before his arrest in New Jersey.
The jury did not find Tay-K guilty of capital murder, which would carry an automatic life sentence, but he now faces 5 to 99 years for the new conviction. Tay-K previously received additional prison time and fines for three aggravated robbery charges. He must serve at least half of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
