YNW Melly’s double-homicide case has taken yet another turn as one of his co-defendants has been arrested for witness tampering.
On Monday (October 2), Law&Crime Network’s Bryson Paul reported that YNW Bortlen was arrested that same day following a home raid in Miami, Florida. He was subsequently booked in Miami-Dade County.
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Bortlen (real name Cortlen Henry) was scheduled to begin his trial on the day he was taken into police custody, which is why his day in court has now been moved to January 12, 2024.
He has been out on bond with a monitor since August 2021 for his alleged ties to the 2018 murders.
#YNWBortlenTrial: @YNWBortlen was arrested with witness tampering charges following a home raid by law enforcement on Monday evening (October 2) in Miami, Florida. Bortlen, real name Cortlen Henry, was booked into Miami-Dade County on Out-of-County Warrant at 10:22 PM.
Bortlen… pic.twitter.com/PgwQtQeqFr
— Bryson “Boom” Paul (@brysonboompaul) October 3, 2023
The YNW Melly trial ended in a mistrial in July, but Bortlen is still facing his own day in court for the killings of YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.) and YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams).
Just a few hours after the mistrial was declared, he sent out a cryptic tweet that seemed to address his upcoming trial, in which he wrote: “Mind games dont work on people like me [handshake emoji].”
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During a brief pre-trial hearing before Broward County Judge John Murphy in late July, it was decided that YNW Bortlen will face a jury of his peers on October 2.
Additionally, Fred Haddad, the attorney for YNW Bortlen, requested that Judge Murphy grant his client’s request to work in the studio and record some music while awaiting trial.
However, prosecutor Kristine Bradley opposed the motion, pointing out that working in the studio until the early hours of the morning violated Bortlen’s terms of house arrest.
She further argued that there was no need to grant him special privileges since he’d violated the terms of his bond agreement prior to this request. Judge Bradley agreed with Bradley’s argument and denied Haddad’s request.
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Back in January, audio surfaced of Bortlen speaking to detectives about the deadly events that took place in October 2018.
He vaguely recounted the incident that ended with YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy being killed, and recalled being the driver of the vehicle while the shots rang off.
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“I’m trying to make sure I don’t get hit,” he said. “And you’re telling me about this — I don’t know, you know what I’m saying? I’m driving, shit crazy, bro.”
Williams and Thomas Jr. suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were driven to Memorial Hospital Miramar where they passed away.
