YNW Melly
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Handout / Getty
YNW Melly has been given a charge of witness tampering by Florida prosecutors as he’s approaching a retrial for double murder.
According to reports, Broward County prosecutors charged YNW Melly with witness tampering on Wednesday (October 4) ahead of his retrial for double murder. They allege that the rapper, who is affiliated with the Bloods street gang, used phone calls by other jail inmates at his request as well as letters passed between them to get messages out to other Blood members on the street. Those gang members then made sure a key witness in the case didn’t testify, said prosecutors.
YNW Melly, also known as Jamell Demons, remains incarcerated without bond. He and Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry are accused of shooting and killing Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams inside of an SUV after a late-night recording session in 2018 and then staging it to look like a drive-by shooting. If convicted, YNW Melly faces a potential death sentence. The first trial ended in July with a hung jury which voted 9-3 to convict.
YNW Bortlen was arrested on Monday (October 2) in Miami-Dade County for witness tampering. A co-defendant in the double murder trial, YNW Bortlen was on house arrest when detained with documents detailing the charge as “misleading conduct toward another person with the intent to cause or induce (that person) to withhold testimony”.
The rapper’s legal team is set to appear in court on Friday and plans to present a case before Broward County Circuit Judge John J. Murphy that Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor and lead prosecutor Kristine Bradley conspired to cover up information about the lead detective, Mark Moretti of the Miramar Police Department, in the case. They aim to call for Bradley’s dismissal.
“This is a transparent and desperate attempt by the State Attorney’s office to distract the public from the deposition of an Assistant State Attorney who accused this case’s lead detective and lead prosecutor of felonies by falsifying and covering up evidence damaging to the state’s case,” Raven Liberty, YNW Melly’s attorney, said of the additional charge.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: @abennettphoto / Amy Beth Bennett
Looks like YNW Melly can count his lucky stars as the “Murder On My Mind” rapper just avoided not only a lengthy prison sentence, but even the death penalty as a jury couldn’t come to an agreement over the murder charges levied against him.
According to NBC Miami, Judge John Murphy was forced to declare a mistrial in the double-murder case against Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, after a jury of his peers failed to reach a unanimous decision. Charged with the 2018 murders of 21-year-old Anthony Williams and 19-year-old Christopher Thomas in Miramar, Melly stood trial for almost three weeks, but after two days of deliberations, the case ended with a hung jury.
NBC Miami reports:
The jury did ask the state and the judge if they could review some of the evidence again but after a few hours and a lunch recess, the jury was unable to find a decision, forcing the judge to order a mistrial.
According to Cornell Law School, A mistrial occurs when a jury is unable to reach a verdict and there must be a new trial with a new jury or there is a serious procedural error or misconduct that would result in an unfair trial, and the judge adjourns the case without a decision on the merits and awards a new trial.
“Our system doesn’t work without getting people from the community to come in here and listen to the facts of the case and make decisions,” Murphy said.
Demons was all smiles after the judge sent the jury home. Before the jurors left, Murphy addressed them.
“You gave us the time and you put your best effort to see if you could bring this case to a resolution, unfortunately, it wasn’t able to happen but I want to thank you again for your time and consideration of the case,” Murphy said.
Demons is a helluva last name to have during a double-murder trial. Just sayin’.
Prosecutors alleged that YNW Melly and Cortland Henry aka YNW Bortlen were riding in a jeep on Oct. 26, 2018 when Melly opened fire on both Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas, killing them both. Melly was facing the death penalty over the allegations but has seemingly avoided such a fate. Henry is set to stand trial separately as an accomplice in the shooting later this year.
Though prosecutors say the shooting was gang related, Melly’s defense attorney’s say that wasn’t the case as Melly and the victims were “close friends.” With Melly seemingly out the woods, the defense and state are set to return on Friday (July 28), to discuss what next steps will be taken.
Should be interesting to see what kind of agreement is reached now that a jury couldn’t convict.
What do y’all think of YNW Melly’s hung jury? Let us know in the comments section below.
HipHopWired Radio
Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…
The second week of the double murder trial of rapper YNW Melly began Tuesday with the judge denying a motion from the defense for a mistrial.
Defense attorneys had asked Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy for a mistrial last week, arguing the jury had been tainted following testimony that could not be verified from the mother of YNW Melly’s ex-girlfriend, the Sun Sentinel reported. The judge told defense attorneys jurors could be instructed to ignore statements that were ruled inadmissible.
YNW Melly, whose legal name is Jamell Demons, is facing a possible death sentence for the October 2018 fatal shooting of his childhood friends, Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Williams and Thomas were both part of the YNW collective, known respectively as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy.
Demons, Williams and Thomas were riding in a Jeep driven by Cortland Henry, known as YNW Bortlen, after a recording session in Fort Lauderdale when Demons, 24, fatally shot Williams and Thomas, prosecutors said. Henry is charged as an accomplice in the case but will be tried separately.
After killing Williams and Thomas, prosecutors said Demons and Henry drove the bodies to an area near the Everglades, where they shot at the back and passenger sides of Henry’s Jeep from the outside to make it look like Williams and Thomas were the victims of a drive-by shooting.
Prosecutors say the shooting was part of a gang action, while defense attorneys say the motive lacks credibility because Demons and the victims were close friends.
The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered. The first week of trial focused mostly on the physical evidence, with prosecutors establishing that the bullet casings found inside Demons and Henry’s vehicle likely came from the same weapon as the casings found at the scene of the staged drive-by shooting.
Demons gained attention with his breakout song “Murder on My Mind” in 2017. He later worked with Kanye West on “Mixed Personalities,” which was released in January 2019, a month before Demons was arrested on the murder charges.
-
Pages