Ezra Verill, manager of the incarcerated rapper Tay-K, shared a statement on the rapper's condition on Sunday after social media began to circulate a picture of the 17-year-old artist wearing an anti-suicide smock.
Verill claimed the picture is "over seven months old" and that the rapper is not suicidal. He added "[Tay-K] did that to get out of the solitary confinement he's been in for close to two years. Crazy the extremes you have to take it just to be treated humanely in a fucked up situation." The statement was made on Verill's Instagram Stories. See a screencap of it and the circulated picture of Tay-K above.
Tay-K (real name Taymor McIntyre) is currently held at the Lon Evans Corrections Center in Fort Worth, Texas. He is charged with the murders of 21-year-old Ethan Walker in July 2016 and 23-year-old Mark Anthony Saldavir in April 2017. He will be tried as an adult in both cases, but is reportedly not facing the death penalty.
The murder of Saldavir occured while McIntyre was on the run from authorities – he had fled the house arrest he was under during proceedings for the Walker trial. Authorities have also charged McIntyre with the aggravated assault of 65-year-old Skip Pepe while on the run.
McIntyre was arrested in July 2017. During his escape from authorities, he filmed the music video for "The Race" and became a rap sensation. "The Race" peaked at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Watch the video for "The Race" below:
