Tay-K Seeks To Pause Appeal, Attorneys Seek To Challenge iPhone Search

Tay-K wants a Texas appeals court to halt his murder appeal while attorneys challenge a judge’s handling of key iPhone evidence.

Tay-K‘s legal fight isn’t over despite his 80-year prison sentence.

The rapper’s attorneys are asking a Texas appeals court to temporarily pause the appeal of his murder conviction while they seek additional clarification from the trial judge over a key piece of evidence.

According to newly filed court documents, Tay-K’s defense team wants the appellate court to send the case back to the trial court. They want the judge to provide detailed findings explaining why a motion to suppress evidence obtained from an iPhone was denied before trial.

The request centers on a search warrant executed on the device, which investigators recovered from a vehicle connected to the 2017 fatal shooting of San Antonio photographer Mark Saldivar.

Defense attorneys argued the warrant authorizing the search of the phone lacked probable cause and sought to exclude any evidence obtained from it. The trial judge denied that motion, allowing prosecutors to use the material during the proceedings.

Tay-K’s attorneys argue the judge never issued the written findings of fact and conclusions of law needed to explain that decision. They contend the court made only brief remarks that fail to provide enough legal reasoning for the appeals court to properly review the issue.

“The need for detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law is essential to this case,” the defense wrote in its filing, adding that the judge’s earlier statements amounted to “off hand comments” rather than a thorough explanation of the ruling.

Rather than asking for the conviction to be overturned immediately, the defense requests a temporary pause in the appellate process while those findings are prepared. If the appeals court declines that request, Tay-K’s attorneys have alternatively asked for a two-week extension to file their appellate brief.

The latest filing marks another chapter in the legal saga surrounding the rapper, whose real name is Taymor McIntyre. In April 2025, a Bexar County jury convicted him of murder in the death of Saldivar after rejecting the original capital murder charge. He was later sentenced to 80 years in prison.

That sentence runs concurrently with the 55-year sentence Tay-K is already serving for his role in the 2016 Mansfield home invasion that resulted in the death of Ethan Walker.

His breakout single “The Race” became a viral hit while he was a fugitive, but his legal troubles have continued to overshadow his music career ever since.

The appeals court has not yet ruled on whether it will pause the case or require the trial court to issue the additional findings requested by Tay-K’s legal team.

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