Yella Beezy’s murder trial is putting his record label’s crisis communications under the microscope as testimony continues.
As spotted on XXL, marketing executive Lynn M. Scott testified Monday, Nov. 9, as the defense’s first witness after prosecutors rested their case. Scott worked with Beezy at L.A. Reid’s Hitco Entertainment and was questioned about messages calling for a response after Mo3’s fatal shooting.
Prosecutor Tommy Adams asked why she wanted the team to “strategize” and “craft a response” following the news. “I’m a marketer,” Scott testified. “I thought he should be prepared.” Scott also offered a business explanation for Beezy’s California stay around the killing. She said Hitco arranged a three-day promotional trip beginning Nov. 10, 2020. After Mo3 was killed the next day, label executives encouraged Beezy to remain there for additional work and safety reasons.
According to Scott, he briefly returned to Dallas to see his mother before heading back to Los Angeles. His family later spent Thanksgiving at her home. She also testified that Hitco controlled release dates, including for “Keep It in the Streets,” which had been recorded before its release.
Beezy, born Markies Conway, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder. Prosecutors accuse him of hiring Kewon White to kill Mo3, born Melvin Noble. White was convicted of capital murder in September and sentenced to life in prison, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Beezy’s alleged involvement is being decided in a separate trial. The courtroom testimony follows years of tension between two prominent names in Dallas rap.
According to FOX 4’s coverage, lead detective Eric Barnes traced the conflict to 2017 and an assault involving comedian Roy Lee Pate, a friend of Mo3. Pate and Beezy had exchanged words online, and Barnes testified that Mo3 became involved in the dispute. Pate was shot in 2018 and later died from complications. Beezy subsequently survived a shooting on the Sam Rayburn Tollway in Lewisville. Those incidents became central to the public discussion surrounding the rappers’ relationship, but the timing alone does not establish who ordered or carried out either attack.
Publicly, both artists sometimes downplayed the tension. XXL’s retrospective reported that Mo3 denied having a real beef with Beezy during a 2019 VladTV interview. Beezy later claimed not to know Mo3 during his own appearance on the platform. Their camps nevertheless continued clashing. In early 2020, Beezy was involved in an altercation with Mo3’s manager, Brandon Rainwater. Mo3 subsequently called him out online over the incident.
On Nov. 11, 2020, Mo3 was fatally shot on Interstate 35 in Dallas after leaving his vehicle and running from an armed attacker. A bystander was also wounded and survived. That history has become a major part of the state’s case against Beezy. FOX 4 reported that jurors watched music videos and social media footage as prosecutors sought to establish an escalating feud. They also saw a 2019 interview in which Beezy discussed retaliation after surviving his own shooting. The defense has challenged the prosecution’s interpretation of the evidence.
According to FOX 4’s Nov. 6 coverage, defense attorney Toby Shook questioned the credibility of an informant who implicated White after facing substantial prison exposure. He also pointed jurors toward an alternative theory involving co-defendant Devin Brown’s separate conflict with Mo3.
Scott’s testimony adds the label’s account of Beezy’s movements and messaging to that dispute. The jury must determine whether prosecutors have proved his alleged role in Mo3’s killing beyond a reasonable doubt.
