YNW Melly‘s alleged co-conspirator, YNW Bortlen, now has a trial date set for his alleged role in the murders of two other members of the YNW Collective — YNW Juvie and YNW Sakchaser.
In a three-minute pre-trial hearing before Broward County Judge John Murphy on Friday (June 30), it was revealed that Bortlen (real name Cortlen Henry) will face a jury of his peers on October 2. A status conference between the prosecution (who will be representing the state of Florida) and the defense will be had sometime in September.
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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 wee hours of the morning violated YNW Bortlen’s terms of house arrest, and 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.
Back in January, audio surfaced of YNW Bortlen speaking to detectives about the deadly October 2018 night.
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.
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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.”
According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Williams and Thomas Jr. suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were driven to Memorial Hospital Miramar at 4:35 a.m. where they passed away. The hospital is located about 20 miles outside of Fort Lauderdale.
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As for YNW Melly, he suffered a legal setback on Wednesday (June 28), when crime scene detective Sgt. Christopher Williams — who was called to the witness stand by the prosecution — determined that the fatal bullets that killed the YNW members came from inside the car that they were riding in at the time of their death, not outside.
“The shooting happened from somebody inside the car,” Williams said as he recreated the crime scene for the jury. He added “the angles” of the projectiles going into the victims’ bodies “do not change,” and that he likely missed these details the first time around because he had been testing the scene for a drive-by.
Sgt. Williams went on to say that Juvy (real name Christopher Thomas Jr.) was shot in the head at close range from the left in the “middle of his cheek” while he was facing forward.
“Part of the wound had an abrasion ring on it,” he said of the entrance wound, citing the “tattoo of the stippling” as evidence.
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YNW Melly was arrested and charged with two counts of premeditated murder in 2019 and faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. If convicted, he could get the death penalty.
