A new development has emerged in the ongoing legal saga of rapper Tay-K, with his sister, Kayla Beverly, providing dramatic testimony in a Texas courtroom. The 26-year-old took the stand on April 15 at the Bexar County Court to speak on behalf of her brother, Taymor Travon McIntyre, following his conviction for the murder of photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar.

Beverly’s testimony aimed to sway the jury toward leniency during the sentencing phase of the trial. She recounted their childhood, describing how she and McIntyre were removed from their mother’s care by Child Protective Services when they were 7 and 5 years old, respectively. According to Beverly, the siblings were placed into foster care and later found a home with a family in Las Vegas.
The instability continued when their father, who had been incarcerated, reestablished custody and moved the family to Arlington, Texas. Beverly told the court that their father was physically abusive, describing an incident where he tied McIntyre to an ironing board and beat him with a piece of lumber for minor infractions such as bad grades. This specific detail from her testimony generated significant reaction on social media, reframing the narrative around the rapper’s troubled upbringing.

On Monday, April 14, 2025, a jury found McIntyre, now 24, guilty of murdering Mark Anthony Saldivar in 2017, while acquitting him of a capital murder charge that could have carried the death penalty. The following day, Judge Stephanie Boyd sentenced McIntyre to 80 years in prison, a sentence that will run concurrently with his prior 55-year sentence from a separate case. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice lists a projected release date of August 8, 2099, effectively ruling out his release within his lifetime under current terms.

Despite the lengthy sentence, McIntyre’s legal team has filed a motion for a new trial in the Saldivar case and indicated plans to appeal the conviction. The defense is building an argument that the full context of McIntyre’s traumatic childhood, including the abuse and foster care described by his sister, was not adequately considered by the jury. As of October 2025, no resolution to the appeal has been publicly reported.
The case has drawn widespread attention due to McIntyre’s career as a rapper, best known for his 2017 song “The Race,” which was released the same day he was captured by U.S. Marshals after a nationwide manhunt. The song has amassed over 250 million views on YouTube, highlighting the unusual intersection of his criminal activity and musical fame.