As Dallas rapper Yella Beezy awaits trial on a capital murder charge while under house arrest, his legal team has filed a motion requesting he be allowed to leave his home for work.
Attorneys John Gussio and Toby Shook, who represent the rapper, wrote in the Aug 4. motion that their client had missed employment opportunities due to the conditions of his bond.
The lack of employment “has put a significant strain on his current financial obligations,” the lawyers wrote.
They cited his lack of bond violations and his ankle monitor as “sufficient protection” for the public.
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In an email to The Dallas Morning News last week, Gussio said his client’s lost work opportunities included collaborating with other artists and studio time. When asked later about what the work release would entail, Gussio declined to comment further.
Claire Crouch, a spokesperson for the Dallas County district attorney’s office, declined to comment on the filing when reached by text on Friday.
In a March indictment, a Dallas County grand jury accused Yella Beezy, born Markies Conway, of orchestrating a 2020 hit on Melvin Noble, who was gunned down in broad daylight on Interstate 35E in Oak Cliff.
Noble, a rapper who performed under the stage name MO3, was allegedly a rival of Conway, although both entertainers had denied any feud.
Related:A timeline of the MO3 murder-for-hire case
In separate indictments filed against Kewon Dontrell White and Devin Maurice Brown in late March, each man was accused of being hired by Conway to carry out the fatal shooting.
Authorities suspected White of being the gunman, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit from 2020. Detectives said they received information from witnesses and cellular data that linked him to the shooting.
Brown’s alleged involvement in Noble’s death remains unclear. A November trial date has been set for Brown’s case.
“Devin is and has been ready for his day in court on this allegation [and] quite frankly, ready to return home and to his family,” his lawyer, Elaine Evans, told The News last month, adding that her client had been incarcerated since 2020 and unable to make bond due to a lack of employment.
A trial date in Conway’s case has not been set.
In April, a Dallas County judge denied a request from his legal team to allow him to attend his son’s football games.
Conway has faced legal trouble in the past.
Last summer, he was named as a defendant in a civil suit stemming from an alleged altercation at a Chris Brown tour stop in Fort Worth. The famous R&B singer, Conway and two other men were accused of assaulting four concertgoers.