Jose Bodega Pleads The Fifth In Yella Beezy’s MO3 Murder Trial

Jose Bodega took the stand in Yella Beezy‘s MO3 murder trial Thursday (October 29), but he would not repeat the account he had given a grand jury.

With the jury out of the Dallas courtroom, the rapper repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked about his past statements. He also declined to answer a defense question about an alleged recantation.

The exchange put the focus on a witness who had previously agreed to help prosecutors. Bodega, whose legal name is Theodore Thomas, is Yella Beezy’s childhood friend. His cooperation agreement came through a separate federal drug case.

Yella Beezy, legally named Markies Conway, pleaded not guilty to capital murder and denied hiring Kewon White to kill MO3. The state accused him of arranging the fatal attack on his fellow Dallas rapper.

Bodega did answer some early questions. He confirmed that he appeared before a Dallas County grand jury on February 13, 2025. A prosecutor then showed him a record containing 143 pages of testimony and asked him to revisit what he had said.

That was where the answers largely stopped. Questions about prior accounts involving White and other people in the case drew repeated Fifth Amendment responses, as shown in WFAA’s courtroom footage.

The prosecutor asked about Get Rich Cartel, a feud involving the rappers and Bodega’s whereabouts in California around the time of MO3’s death. He also asked about a conversation at a barbershop. Bodega declined to discuss those subjects rather than confirm the details laid out in the questions.

Judge Chika Anyiam noted that Bodega was invoking the Fifth on all material questions and asked the state how it wanted to proceed. When the defense got its turn, an attorney asked whether Bodega had recanted to a detective with a lawyer present. Bodega invoked the Fifth again.

His earlier cooperation had already come under scrutiny. At an October 6 hearing, defense expert Julianna Moore testified that Bodega pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and agreed to assist in the murder case. She also said a gun charge against him had been dismissed.

MO3, whose legal name was Melvin Noble, was killed on November 11, 2020. White chased him on foot along Interstate 35E and shot him with a rifle. In White’s separate case, a jury convicted him of capital murder and he received life without parole, according to the Dallas County district attorney’s office.

After Bodega stepped down Thursday, Judge Anyiam directed his attorney to keep him in the courthouse in case he was called back to the stand.