During Tay-K’s sentencing phase, his sister, Kayla Beverly, took the stand to share the harrowing details of their abusive childhood, painting a grim picture of the environment that shaped the rapper’s early life. Taymor McIntyre, known as Tay-Kand famous for his viral 2017 track “The Race,” was sentenced to 80 years in prison on April 16, 2025, for the murder of photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar at a Chick-fil-A in San Antonio, Texas, in April 2017. The emotional testimony from his sister, alongside the judge’s apparent criticism of their parents and Tay-K’s own response during sentencing, brought renewed attention to the rapper’s troubled past and the complexities of his case.
On April 15, 2025, during the sentencing phase at Bexar County’s 187th District Court, Kayla Beverly stood before the jury to describe the brutal abuse she and Tay-K endured as children. At the time they entered foster care, Kayla was 7 years old, and Tay-K was just 5. Her testimony was raw and vivid, aimed at providing context for her brother’s actions and possibly swaying the jury toward leniency. She recounted how their father’s punishments were severe and unrelenting, stating,
“His punishments were too big, like if we got bad grades, we would be punished. The whoopings got worse and worse, and he started using a 2×4 to hit us. He would give us a specific number of hits, and Taymor couldn’t even get up after being hit.”
She went on to reveal an even more disturbing detail: their father would tie Tay-K to an ironing board as a form of discipline, leaving him helpless during these punishments. Kayla’s words highlighted a childhood marked by fear, physical pain, and instability, as the siblings later moved through foster care and an orphanage before returning to their father’s home in Texas.
The case began with a fatal incident on April 23, 2017, in front of a parking lot of Chick-fil-A in North Star Mall in San Antonio. Twenty-three-year-old photographer Mark Anthony Saldivar was reportedly robbed and shot to death in a prearranged marijuana deal. Prosecutors charged Tay-K with capital murder in their initial charge, and he was accused of being behind the robbery that took Saldivar’s life. But with his trial commencing on April 1, on April 14, 2025, he was convicted of murder by a lesser charge. The prosecution claimed Tay-K, who was then only 16 years old, was the mastermind of the crime, but his defense highlighted his youthfulness as well as his problematic past.
Sentencing then followed in immediate succession, with deliberation by the jury in April 16, 2025, determining Tay-K’s sentence. The imposed sentence of 80 years will concurrently serve alongside his existing 55-year sentence for another murder committed in Tarrant County, Texas, in 2016, essentially putting his overall prison sentence at 80 years. Tay-K’s fame, which derived from “The Race” he had produced as he fled from police, brought to the case an added element of public interest, but in court, all attention centered upon how serious his crimes had been and upon the loss of life suffered by Saldivar.
As the jury announced the 80-year sentence, Tay-K is said to have had a moment of profound emotional response, with various reports suggesting he prayed in silence, mirroring the import of the verdict. There is reportedly no open statement from Tay-K during sentencing that was widely reported upon; his body language, however, spoke volumes of the burden of potentially spending decades in prison at the tender age of 24. Presiding judge Stephanie Boyd also seemed to speak to the contribution of Tay-K’s parents to his wayward lifestyle, likely referring to abuse detailed by Kayla.
Even though direct words from the judge cannot be widely said to have been relayed, context surrounding testimony suggests she questioned parenting that left Tay-K, along with his sister, in such distress, referring to this as an element in his wayward lifestyle.
Tay-K’s defense team, headed by attorney Jeff Kearney, used his background of childhood trauma to make his case for leniency in sentencing.
“Taymor’s childhood background involved unimaginable hardship. The surroundings in which he spent his youth influenced his world view and choices as an adolescent.”
The defense wanted the testimony by Kayla to humanize Tay-K by revealing to the jury how pervasive abuse over years might lead to a youth’s turn to crime. The prosecution, in response, used the severity of the offense to oppose this by stating that Tay-K’s behavior during robbery indicated he had no regard for human life, even considering his background.
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The case is also causing debate regarding the connection between trauma in childhood and criminal activity. Kayla’s testimony raises questions about how abuse affects choices in a person’s life and if the justice system is sufficient to consider such circumstances in determining sentences.
