Key Takeaways
- Tay-K won a temporary pause in his appeal of an 80-year sentence for the San Antonio murder of photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar so the original trial court can issue written findings on a contested iPhone search warrant.
- The appeals court gave the trial judge 10 days to explain why the iPhone evidence wasn't suppressed, after which Tay-K will restart his appeal and file a brief laying out his arguments.
- Tay-K's lawyers also argued the jury got a "total misimpression" of key witness Joana Reyes' credibility, while the rapper remains separately sentenced to 55 years for a 2016 home invasion, with a projected release date of August 8, 2099.
Tay-K has scored a small but important victory in the appeal of his conviction in a San Antonio murder case, for which he was sentenced to 80 years in prison.
The 26-year-old rapper (real name Taymor McIntyre) had asked last month that his appeal be paused temporarily so the court that originally tried him can share in writing their thinking about a key issue in the case. On Thursday (July 23), he got the delay he was asking for.
Tay-K’s attorney took issue with a search warrant issued for an iPhone that law enforcement found inside a car that they believed was associated with the murder of photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar. During his original trial, the rapper tried unsuccessfully to suppress the results of the search, with the court ruling that authorities did in fact have probable cause to obtain it.
Tay-K requested that the trial court "make written findings of fact and conclusions of law" laying out the reasoning for their decision, in order to figure out how to discuss the search warrant during his appeal.
On Thursday, Texas' Fourth Court of Appeals agreed, giving the trial court 10 days to issue its findings and conclusions. Once that's done, Tay-K’s appeal will be restarted. The next step is for the rapper to file a brief laying out his arguments. A due date for that will be set when the case is restarted.
Tay-K's attorneys filed an appeal of the verdict in May, 2025, one month after he was sentenced for the murder of photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar. They argued that one of his alleged accomplices in the murder, Joana Reyes, was not a trustworthy witness in the trial.
Reyes is the one who testified that Tay-K fired the fatal shot that killed Saldivar. In the appeal, the rapper's lawyers said that prosecutors misrepresented Reyes' legal record, leaving the jury in the case with a "total misimpression" of her apparent credibility.
Tay-K is famous for his song 2017 "The Race," which was recorded while he was on the run from authorities and was released the day he was caught.
Apart from Saldivar’s killing, Tay-K was was separately convicted and sentenced to 55 years in prison for his involvement in the 2016 home invasion that claimed the life of Ethan Walker. According to state prison records, his projected release date is August 8, 2099.
