YNW Melly will be tried once more for the double homicide of his late friends, YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser.
According to Pitchfork, the Broward County State Attorney’s Office has confirmed that the 24-year-old and his legal team will undergo the defensive process again after the jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision the first time around.
AD LOADING...
After the four-week trial, Judge John J. Murphy III announced on Saturday (July 22) that the case had ended in a mistrial despite three days of deliberation.
“These types of decisions, they’re hard decisions,” he said regarding the inconclusive finale.
AD LOADING...
About the case, local criminal defense attorney Joshua Rydell shared: “What that means to me as a defense attorney who has tried dozens of jury trials, is there was somebody in that room that was ‘gung-ho’ that this should be an acquittal.
“That’s what this says to me. There were people that didn’t buy the state’s theory, and were never going to be in a place to even discuss the case.”
The first-degree murder charges took four and a half years to process through the legal system. Melly was arrested back in 2019 for allegedly shooting and killing fellow YNW members Christopher Thomas Jr. (YNW Juvy) and Anthony Williams (YNW Sakchaser) in October 2018.
The state accused the “Murder On My Mind” rapper of gunning down the two men and subsequently staging a drive-by shooting in an attempt to cover it up.
AD LOADING...
Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley said: “Anthony Williams was shot in the back of the head. That was planned for when he was sleeping so that he couldn’t fight back. That was a premeditated planned killing of Williams, where there would be an alibi already discussed.”
Melly’s team made a case for their client being at home and asleep at the time of the murder. Instead, they alleged that another associate, Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry, was the culprit. He is still awaiting trial.
AD LOADING...
Just a few hours after Melly’s mistrial was declared, Bortlen sent out a cryptic tweet that seemed to address the case, writing: “Mind games dont work on people like me [handshake emoji].”
