On Sept. 1, a Texas woman who was accused of killing Beyoncé’s cousin was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Thirty-four-year-old aspiring rapper Martell DeRouen was killed by Sasha Skare in January 2021 after the two had gotten into an argument. Skare shot the rapper through the door of his apartment, and he was killed with a single bullet.
On Aug. 29, jurors were shown the footage of Skare walking to DeRouen’s apartment with a gun in her hand, with her phone in the other.
The jurors also listened to audio of a 911 call from someone claiming to be DeRouen’s wife, Joia DeRouen, saying that she felt like she was in danger and didn’t have a key to their apartment.
Joia stated that she was not the woman in the recording and believed that it was Skare who called and shared misinformation with the dispatcher. She also says that the person pronounced her name wrong and gave the dispatcher Martell’s wrong age.
Neighbors claimed they heard banging on the door, and a woman across the hall from DeRouen saw Skare knocking on his door before he was killed.
