A Childhood Friend Just Agreed to Testify Against Yella Beezy in the MO3 Murder Case

There’s a new development heading into Yella Beezy’s trial that’s worth laying out carefully, because it’s exactly the kind of detail that can swing a case built largely on circumstantial and financial evidence.

A man named Jose Bodega, legally Theodore Thomas, has agreed to testify against Yella Beezy, legal name Markies Conway, in the case alleging he orchestrated the murder-for-hire plot that killed MO3. Bodega isn’t some outside witness pulled in cold. He’s a childhood friend of Yella Beezy’s, and the two have actually worked together musically, Bodega appears on “Tool On Ya” off Yella Beezy and Trapboy Freddy’s album I’m My Brother’s Keeper. That closeness is exactly why his cooperation matters as much as it does.

Here’s the mechanism behind it, and it’s important to understand clearly. Bodega’s cooperation didn’t come out of nowhere, it’s tied to a completely separate federal drug case. At a hearing this past Tuesday, defense expert Julianna Moore laid out the details, according to courtroom reporting from Bryson “Boom” Paul. Bodega pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and, as part of that deal, agreed to help prosecutors in Yella Beezy’s murder-for-hire case. Moore also testified that a separate gun charge against Bodega had been dismissed, which is exactly the kind of detail a defense team is going to lean on hard. It gives them a real, specific argument that Bodega has something concrete to gain by testifying the way prosecutors need him to, rather than simply telling the truth because it’s the truth. What Bodega is actually expected to say on the stand hasn’t been detailed publicly yet, so I’m not going to speculate on the substance of his testimony beyond what’s confirmed, that he’s cooperating and that his cooperation came with real benefits attached.

For context on what Bodega’s testimony would actually be weighed against, Yella Beezy denies hiring Kewon White to kill MO3. Prosecutors say the alleged plot traces back to a real, bitter feud that played out across songs, social media, and clashes between their respective circles for years. Detective Eric Barnes has testified that lyrics from MO3 appeared to claim involvement in a 2018 tollway shooting that wounded Yella Beezy, which prosecutors argue is part of the motive chain leading to MO3’s death two years later.

White was already convicted back on September 4th and is serving life without parole for MO3’s murder, which happened on November 11th, 2020, when he chased MO3 down on foot along Interstate 35E and shot him with a rifle as MO3 tried to escape. Dallas County prosecutors built that case using phone records, surveillance footage, witness accounts, financial evidence, and jail calls. None of that evidence, on its own, has been reported as directly implicating Yella Beezy specifically, which is exactly why a witness like Bodega, someone close enough to speak to Yella Beezy’s own actions and statements, carries real weight for the prosecution heading into trial.

Jury selection for Yella Beezy’s trial is set for October 26th, in front of the same judge, Chika Anyiam, who handled White’s case. I want to be clear about where things stand right now. Yella Beezy hasn’t been convicted of anything, he’s presumed innocent, and a witness with a cooperation deal is a normal, legal part of how these cases get built, not proof of guilt on its own. What it does mean is that prosecutors now have someone close to Yella Beezy willing to testify, and the defense already has a documented reason to attack that witness’s credibility the moment he takes the stand. Both of those things are true at the same time, and the jury selected on the 26th is going to be the one that has to actually weigh them.