YNW Melly‘s court troubles are not over just yet, as he’s now found out that he’ll face a jury of his peers once again in connection to the double murder charges levied against him.
After his first trial ended in a mistrial last week, the Miami Herald reported that his new trial would begin on October 2. Both the prosecutor and the defense have agreed to that being the start date. However, both sides didn’t agree to everything.
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Prosecutor Kristine Bradley, who is representing the state of Florida, requested that YNW Melly be tried alongside his alleged co-conspirator, YNW Bortlen. Bortlen (real name Cortland Henry) is also scheduled to face a jury of his peers on October 2, while a status conference between the prosecution (who will be representing the state of Florida) and the defense will be had sometime in September.
The “Murder on My Mind” rapper’s team, however, objected to this request, because Melly is facing the death penalty while Bortlen is not.
Judge John Murphy, who has been overseeing the trial from the beginning, did not rule on the matter in the hearing on Friday (July 28).
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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 him of gunning down the two men and subsequently staging a drive-by shooting in an attempt to cover it up.
Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley claimed: “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, while alleging that YNW Bortlen was the culprit.
Back in January, audio surfaced of YNW Bortlen speaking to detectives about the deadly October 2018 night.
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Bortlen vaguely recounted the 2018 night that ended with YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams) and YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.) being killed and recalled being the driver of the vehicle while the shots rang off.
“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.”
If YNW Melly is convicted of the double murder, he could face the death penalty.
