Tay-K has been behind bars for nearly six years on a murder charge, but in a newly-penned letter, he’s shunned any form of violence as he looks to be a better leader.
Tay shared the hand-written note with his Instagram followers on Thursday (March 30). It arrives days after news that his breakout song “The Race” surpassed one billion streams on DSPs, which may have led to the reflection on the support he continues to receive.
AD LOADING...
In the note, he addressed how he was sentenced as an adult despite being a juvenile and never actually harming anyone – echoing his plea earlier this year for a “second chance at adulthood.”
“Yo I’m sitting here thinking about all my fans, I love and miss y’all,” he began. “I know there’s a lot that I haven’t directly spoke on and there R many things my fans know but I am not sure everybody else does. I’ve been here for 5 1/2 years now and I feel indebted to y’all for going so crazy behind me.
AD LOADING...
“It’s still crazy to me that I never had a chance to live outside as an adult. I’ve been locked up and in and out of the ‘justice’ and CPS system 4 my whole life. Not sure if y’all know but I got sentenced as an adult to 55 years in prison for a crime where I wasn’t even the shooter. I wasn’t even alleged to have a gun. I was never even suspected to have pulled a trigger or hurt anyone.”
He continued: “I was young and didn’t have no positive figures around. Now that I’m older I know how important focusing on leading by example is. I love my fans and I don’t want any1 to think I’m promoting or really recommending violence. That’s why I really dedicate a lot of my time in here to using the success of my music to have a positive impact on other young artist, even if it’s something small like taking a phone call or writing a letter to keep them positively inspired. Regardless of my situation the movement is eternal. #RR4L #FREEM3 Perpetually, TAY-K”
Back in January, the “Race” rapper shared several tweets from behind bars speaking out against his decades-long imprisonment. The 22-year-old argued that he should have been tried as a juvenile instead of an adult and claimed if he was white his punishment wouldn’t have been as severe.
Tay pointed to one of his co-defendants, a white girl who was also 16 at the time, who he claimed was given 10 years probation and has since been released from prison.
“I really just need 1 chance @ adulthood,” he wrote. “I bet if I was a lil white kid they wouldn’t have gave me no 55 years for a crime I was alleged to play the most insignificant role in when I was 16….they woulda rightfully argued that my mind wasn’t fully developed and gave me rehabilitation and a 2nd (1st) chance at adulthood.”
He added: “one of my codefendants was a white girl who was 16 jus like me…they didn’t certify her as an adult but they certified me n pimp as adults, pimp got 30, I got 55, she ended up getting 10 years of probation without no deal…that girl @ home rn.”
AD LOADING...
Tay-K (real name Taymor Travon McIntyre) was found guilty of murder in July 2019 for his role in the 2016 Texas home invasion that killed 21-year-old Ethan Walker.
He was sentenced to 55 years for the murder charge, 30 years for aggravated robbery and given two additional 13-year prison sentences on two other counts of aggravated robbery. The sentences are being served concurrently.
