ATLANTA (Court TV) — A Georgia man was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to charges that he broke into a car and stole items from inside, including unreleased music from Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.
Kelvin Evans pleaded guilty on May 12, 2026. (Court TV)
Kelvin Evans, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of entering an automobile and one count of criminal trespass as jury selection continued for a second day for what would have been his trial. Under an agreement he reached with prosecutors, the two counts would merge into one.
Prosecutors said that on July 7, 2025, Evans’ niece was driving a rented vehicle when she got a call from her uncle saying his bike was dead and asking for a ride. The niece further agreed to loan Evans the vehicle, a red Hyundai sedan.
That Hyundai was visible on surveillance video shown in court, pulling into a parking garage and parking next to a 2024 Jeep Wagoneer, which had been rented to members of Beyoncé’s team. The video shows Evans getting out of the Hyundai and walking to the back of the Jeep, where he was looking inside the trunk. After hiding when another car drives by, Evans is visible taking suitcases out of the Wagoneer and putting them into the Hyundai.
The owners of the items, members of Beyoncé’s choreography team, called police to report the items stolen and said that the hard drives contained unreleased music. Prosecutors said they were able to track the vehicle using license plate readers and initially arrested Evans’ niece.
Video played in court showed a man breaking into cars in a parking garage. (Court TV)
Investigators said that Evans had no idea that inside the stolen suitcases was a laptop that allowed officers to track the stolen items to a property associated with the defendant. While surveillance video shows the defendant bringing suitcases matching the description of those in the Wagoneer into the property, a search warrant did not yield any of the stolen items.
In court on Tuesday, prosecutors said that in a statement to police after his arrest, the defendant referred to himself as the “King Thief of Atlanta,” and said that someone had told him about what was in the suitcases. His niece told police that she got an iPhone and several chargers from the suitcases, matching the description of the suitcases’ contents from victims.
Urging the judge to accept a joint sentencing recommendation from both the defense and the prosecution, Evans’ attorney said that her client is “hoping for a future where he can make money legitimately and be part of society, just like the rest of us.”
The judge granted the request and sentenced Evans to five years in prison, with three years suspended; that means after two years he will serve the rest of the sentence on parole.
