YNW Melly’s ongoing legal battles reached a pivotal moment today (June 12) as his long-awaited double-murder trial commenced in Broward County, Florida. The rapper is accused of the brutal slaying of two of his affiliates, YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams) and YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.), in a grisly episode dating back to October 2018.
Melly allegedly shot the ill-fated duo from within a gray Jeep Compass, and his supposed accomplice, Cortlen Henry, drove them to a nearby emergency room in the aftermath of the incident.
The defense for Melly and Henry hinges on account of a drive-by shooting, in which bullet punctures in the vehicle and blood splatter proved to be false. However, the prosecution counters this with claims of forensic evidence suggesting the entire story was a fabrication. The rapper, whose real name is Jamell Demons, voluntarily surrendered to the police in February 2019 and was subsequently apprehended on capital murder charges.
Despite the mounting evidence and allegations, the 23-year-old “Murder On My Mind” artist maintains his innocence. Years of denied attempts by his legal team to secure his release while awaiting trial have done little to weaken his resolve.
The ongoing proceedings revealed Melly to be in good spirits, notwithstanding the ominous presence of capital punishment looming in the background. A twist of events earlier this month exacerbated his predicament. He’ll be the first person to stand trial under a new law that eases the path for juries to impose the death penalty. The need for a unanimous vote has been removed; an 8-4 ruling in favor of the death penalty is now sufficient, as The New York Times reports.
Back in 2018, Melly’s close friend Cortlen Henry arrived at a hospital in the Miami region, claiming that his friends had fallen victim to a drive-by shooting. According to the rapper’s arrest affidavit, he stated that his friends were critically wounded in his vehicle due to excessive bleeding. Emergency services and investigators found Williams, 21, and Thomas, 19, bearing multiple gunshot wounds to their head and torso. Both were pronounced dead.
Henry recounted to detectives that he, along with Williams and Thomas, had just left a recording studio in Fort Lauderdale when a car drove up next to them and opened fire. He claimed that he was able to evade the hail of bullets, but Williams and Thomas were not as fortunate.
However, upon investigation, officers found no evidence of a shooting at the alleged crime scene, detectives confirmed. Surveillance footage showed Melly, Henry, Williams, and Thomas together in Henry’s car when Henry claimed the shooting occurred, according to Melly’s arrest report. Phone data and blood spatter evidence further indicated that the victims had been shot within the car and not targeted from outside, as initially claimed.
Below, watch the first day of YNW Melly’s murder trial via Law & Crime‘s YouTube channel.