Rapper Sasha Skare has been sentenced to hard time for murdering Beyoncé‘s cousin back in 2021.
KENS-5 reports that Skare was convicted of the murder of 34-year-old Martell Derouen at his upscale apartment near San Antonio.
Derouen, who is related to Beyoncé through their grandmother, also had a burgeoning rap career, performing under the name Kantone before he was shot and killed on January 26, 2021.
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Skare was also offered a plea deal for 20 years in prison, which she rejected before being sentenced to 55 years on Wednesday (August 30).
The Texas rapper previously testified that she didn’t mean to kill Derouen, but that the two had gotten into a fight that quickly spun out of control, which is what led to his death.
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Prosecutor Ashley Jones, however, was not buying Skare’s explanation for the murder of Beyoncé’s cousin.
“The defendant knew exactly what she was doing,” she said, according to KSAT. “[Skare] was banging on the door to get Martell to come and deal with her, and then she shot him. That is murder.”
Sasha Skare was taken in on February 6, 2021, for the shooting death of Deouren and hit with a felony charge of first-degree murder.
An arrest affidavit showed neighbor reports of hearing an argument between a man and a woman, followed by a gunshot. Skare was also reportedly seen on surveillance footage at Deouren’s apartment complex just after the shooting.
She had previously been involved in a fatal shooting in 2019, and was named Marshals’ Most Wanted that year on a charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.
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Derouen rapped under the moniker Kardone and was signed to Sony Music label The Orchard in 2019. Skare was a rapper and singer and started releasing music in 2018, including her album Hyer Quality, Vol. 1. In April, Skare released a single produced by Derouen.
Prior to the arrest, Skare’s Instagram page had been active with fans – but became inundated with requests to turn herself in following news of the murder.
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In a statement, Derouen’s friend Brian Mitchell highlighted the fact that the 34-year-old never tried to use Beyoncé’s name to get ahead.
”That’s not even something he would even mention to people,” Mitchell said. “We’d just have to put [that information] in his bios because it’s just, it’s worthy to put it in there, but he doesn’t like stuff like that.”
