Tay-K was present during a drive-by shooting that left a female college student dead on New Year’s Day 2016. Tay-K’s Daytona Boyz rap protégé Santana Sage, born Eric Johnson, was charged with the murder of 21-year-old University of North Texas student Sara Mutschlechner (MUCH’-lehk-nur).
The shooting death of Sara devastated friends and family, including her boyfriend Brice. Brice, who dated Sara for about five months, spoke with Daily Mail regarding the shooting incident that forever changed his life.
Brice attended a New Year’s Eve party with Sara and friends, where Tay-K and the Daytona Boyz performed.
Photos and video of Santana, Tay-K and PimpyZ performing at the party surfaced on the net.
Recap video of New Years party shoutout @buddhastoops for getting the show buck.#oozedaily pic.twitter.com/qvDKfH8AUq
— DailyOoze (@TheDailyOoze) January 2, 2016
Brice eventually left the party with Sara and friends in a black sedan, and were soon followed by Tay-K and friends in a black SUV.
“I was with her all the way up until about an hour before everything transpired,” Brice told Daily Mail. “It’s just crazy to imagine how everything can just be gone in a moment.”
Tay-K was a passenger in Santana’s car when they pulled alongside Sara’s vehicle, and made sexual comments to her and other people in her car.
The young men tried talking to Sara and her friend Cori, saying they wanted to “f**k them,” Heavy reports.
Sara shot down Santana and friends’ advances, telling the entourage their comments were rude. One of Santana’s passengers allegedly told one of Sara’s friends he would “beat him up.”
Sara’s friends said Tay-K was in the backseat of the vehicle, describing him as looking “very young” and having braces. They said a third group member, Pimpyz, was wearing a Chicago Cubs baseball hat.
Sara’s friends said they saw Santana holding a gun before firing two shots at their vehicle.
Sara was shot in the head, and crashed her car into another vehicle and an electrical pole.
Denton police just released this picture of 20-yr-old Sara Mutschlechner's car. She was shot while driving this a.m. pic.twitter.com/Vl7J1VRMbn
— Jason Allen (@CBS11JasonAllen) January 1, 2016
“I don’t know if it was out of hate, out of just wanting to make a point more than they even intended but the issue is it happened and it’s not okay,” Brice told Daily Mail. “I’m just really relieved that they’ve finally found somebody who’s directly related to what happened. She was such a sweet, sweet girl.
Brice added, “She deserves justice.”
Sara got her justice after Santana was sentenced to 44 years in prison for her murder earlier this month.
Santana will be eligible for parole in 22 years, the Star-Telegram reports.
Santana hoped for a manslaughter conviction after his attorney, Bruce Isaacks, argued the fatal shooting was a mistake, People reports. Isaacks said Santana, who was high on Xanax at the time, only meant to fire warning shots to scare off the group, according to Dallas News.
Sara was a Junior student majoring in radio, television and film. She was a sorority member of Gamma Phi Chapter of ZTA.
