A YNW Melly juror from the Florida rapper’s first double murder trial has come forward with claims that the “Murder on My Mind” rapper was framed.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel revealed that they spoke to Juror No. 7, whose real name has not been released out of concerns for her safety and privacy. According to her, the lack of consistent evidence against YNW Melly (real name Jamell Demons) led to her voting not guilty.
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“I believe that he didn’t do it and it wasn’t proved in court,” said the Fort Lauderdale resident. “This was a really bad situation of being framed. Melly was a very good person. He always tried to help out people around him.”
What’s more, Juror No. 7 claimed that most of the jury wanted to convict YNW Melly of the double murders, but were turned off by the prosecution’s insistence of trying to tie his actions to “gang activity,” claiming that doing so was racial profiling.
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YNW Melly, and the majority of the jury (including Juror No. 7) are Black, whereas the prosecutor was white, which further fueled the racial profiling claims.
“This was not a matter of fact but a matter of race,” she said. “I wasn’t there, but I believe he was being framed, based on the text messages.”
It’s not clear whether Juror No. 7 is the same juror that allegedly “manipulated” two other jurors to deem Melly not guilty, resulting in the 9-3 mistrial.
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“From day one, she had issues with the foreperson selected, at one point crossing her arms and saying she was ‘Done!’ When another juror asked to not shut down and set her feelings aside, she exploded,” the anonymous juror claimed in an interview with the outlet.
“She was explosive, manipulative, she was rude, she yelled insults at anyone who had a different opinion…She was there to cause chaos.”
Early last month, Judge John J. Murphy III acquiesced to Melly’s attorney Stuart Adelstein’s request to have the new trial date pushed back from October 2 to October 9.
Law&Crime‘s Cathy Russon added that Adelstein requested to delay the trial by a week due to him going on vacation.
Melly was seen grinning and mouthing the words, “I’m coming home” to family in the gallery as he left the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit and shackles.
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YNW Melly is being retried for the October 2018 double murder of his friends YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams) and YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.) after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in last month’s trial.
Judge Murphy III announced on 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.
