Texas rapper Tay-K convicted of murdering photographer in 2017, his second murder conviction, faces life in prison after viral fame with ‘The Race’.
In a San Antonio courtroom this week, the saga of Taymor “Tay-K” McIntyre took another grim turn. The 24-year-old Texas rapper, once a fleeting internet sensation, was found guilty of murder on Monday, April 14, 2025, in the 2017 shooting death of 23-year-old photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar.
This marks McIntyre’s second murder conviction, a stark reminder of the violent undertow that has long shadowed his brief, chaotic career. The Bexar County jury’s verdict, delivered after eight hours of deliberation, spared McIntyre a capital murder charge but still leaves him facing a potential life sentence with the possibility of parole. For a figure whose 2017 viral hit “The Race” turned him into a folk hero of sorts, the weight of his choices now anchors him firmly to a different kind of notoriety.
McIntyre, known to fans as Tay-K or Tay-K 47, was already serving a 55-year sentence for a 2016 murder tied to a botched home invasion in Tarrant County, Texas, when this latest trial began. That earlier case, which left 21-year-old Ethan Walker dead, set the stage for McIntyre’s infamy. At just 16, he became a fugitive, cutting off his ankle monitor and taunting authorities with “The Race,” a brazen track recorded while on the lam.
The song, with its eerie nonchalance and vivid storytelling, hit the Billboard Hot 100 and racked up over 251 million YouTube views, cementing Tay-K as a polarizing symbol of rebellion. But the freedom he rapped about was short-lived. U.S. Marshals arrested him in New Jersey in 2017, just as “The Race” was blowing up.
The San Antonio case stems from an incident on April 23, 2017, outside a Chick-fil-A near North Star Mall. According to prosecutors, McIntyre and a group of friends lured Saldivar, an aspiring photographer, under the pretense of a photoshoot. What followed was a robbery gone wrong, with Saldivar shot dead in the restaurant’s parking lot.
Security footage and witness testimony, including that of McIntyre’s former girlfriend Joanna Marie Reyes, painted a damning picture. Reyes, who was charged with capital murder but took a plea deal for her testimony, identified McIntyre as the gunman, describing a chilling scene where one of his associates high-fived him after the shooting, lamenting only that Saldivar had just $10 on him.
The trial, which kicked off March 31, 2025, after years of delays, was a tense affair. McIntyre’s defense attorney, John T. Hunter, argued that the San Antonio Police Department’s investigation was shoddy, leaning too heavily on the accounts of McIntyre’s friends. “Taymor McIntyre is not guilty of capital murder, murder, or manslaughter, and the reason for that is very simple,” Hunter told jurors in closing arguments.
“You have to do the work.” Prosecutors, led by Jason Garrahan, countered that the evidence was airtight, urging the jury to deliver justice for Saldivar. “Go to capital murder and say guilty of capital murder because we have proven every single moment beyond a reasonable doubt,” Garrahan said.
The jury ultimately split the difference, acquitting McIntyre of capital murder—a charge that would have meant an automatic life sentence without parole—but convicting him of the lesser charge of murder. The decision sparked a brief outburst of celebration from McIntyre’s family in the courtroom, prompting Judge Stephanie Boyd to have them removed before the verdict was fully read. Now, as the punishment phase unfolds, McIntyre faces anywhere from 5 to 99 years in prison, a sentence that could stack onto his existing 55-year term.
For those who followed Tay-K’s meteoric rise, the verdict feels like the closing of a chapter that was always destined to end this way. At 17, he was a kid with a knack for turning his life’s chaos into music that resonated with millions. “The Race” wasn’t just a song; it was a middle finger to the system, a raw dispatch from a teenager who seemed to know the odds were stacked against him.
But the myth of Tay-K—the fugitive who outran the law—couldn’t outrun the consequences of his actions. Two murder convictions, two lives taken, and a trail of grief left behind tell a story far heavier than any viral hit could carry.
As the sentencing phase continues, the question isn’t just how much time McIntyre will serve, but whether his story will serve as a cautionary tale or just another footnote in a culture that often glorifies the very rebellion that destroys its young. For Mark Anthony Saldivar, Ethan Walker, and their families, no sentence can undo the loss. For Tay-K, the race is over, and the finish line looks like a cell.
Sources: Houston Chronicle, KSAT, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Times Now, Express News
