New details about Dallas rapper MO3's murder emerged Wednesday as witnesses began to testify in the trial of the alleged gunman.
MO3, real name Melvin Noble, was gunned down in 2020 on I-35 in Dallas by a man with a rifle alleged by prosecutors to be Kewon White. Investigators said White was hired by rival Dallas rapper Yella Beezy, also known as Markies Conway.
White tracked down Noble on Conway's orders and "hunted him like an animal," according to Dallas County prosecutor Tommy Adams.
"There was a hitman on the highway, and that hitman was Kewon White," Adams said during opening statements Wednesday.
Defense attorney Myra McIntosh, meanwhile, said prosecutors were trying to rely on jurors to fill in the gaps of their case.
"The state's case is riddled with speculations, assumptions and flawed conclusions," McIntosh said.
Noble and Conway had a public and ongoing dispute at the time of the shooting.
Tamatha Hopkins testified before jurors Wednesday morning that she was behind Noble's tan-colored sedan before the shooting. She said a black car sped up to the right side of Noble's car before she heard a loud sound.
She said she thought the tire on Noble's car had blown out and the black car stopped in front to help out, so she pulled over as well.
But then a man in the black car came out with a gun, cursed at her and yelled for her to move. She said the man was pulling at a ski mask, so she only saw his face from the nose down.
Video of the shooting captured by a semi-truck and played in court appeared to corroborate her testimony.
In the video, a person prosecutors identified as Noble can be seen getting out of his car and running around the back to the passenger door. He pulls it open and leans inside.
By that point the black car had stopped in front of Noble and a man wearing black and carrying a rifle was running toward him.
Noble ran back and out of the camera's view while the gunman chased him.
It's unclear if the gunman was shooting his gun at that time because the video had no audio.
Photos taken by Tracey Kappler were then shown to the jury. Kappler testified that she was driving near Noble's car when the shooting occurred.
The photos showed Noble shortly after the shooting laying behind a car flat on his back with his hands on his chest.
She said she couldn't get through to 911, so she took pictures to document what happened.
Another photo showed a man in blue scrubs giving chest compressions to Noble, who's wearing a purple jumpsuit.
Ricardo Gallardo, a fire rescue officer with Dallas-Fire Rescue, said from the time he arrived on scene to when Noble got to the hospital he never showed signs of life.
Judge Chika Anyiam said White's trial is expected to last for 2 weeks.
Dylan Duke is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan at dduke@kera.org.
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