New trial date set in rapper YNW Melly’s double murder retrial. When does it start?
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The double murder trial of rapper YNW Melly
The double murder trial of rapper YNW Melly, whose legal name is Jamell Demons, has had many twists and turns since the South Florida artist was accused of killing his childhood best friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in 2019.
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For almost a year, YNW Melly’s retrial has loomed. Now, the South Florida rapper knows when he will face a jury in his double murder case.
In a Monday hearing, Broward Circuit Court Judge Martin Fein set Melly’s trial date to Sept. 10, 2025.
The case was transferred from Judge John Murphy’s courtroom after he announced he would retire in August.
Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, has been behind bars in Broward since February 2019. He’s accused of gunning down his childhood friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in an alleged drive-by cover-up after spending the early morning hours of Oct. 26, 2018, at a Fort Lauderdale recording studio.
Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers with the YNW collective, were known as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy, respectively.
READ MORE: Life or death? Fate of ‘Murder on My Mind’ rapper rests with eight jurors, judge rules
The 25-year-old is facing the death penalty. If convicted, his case will be considered under the 8-4 jury vote, the lowest threshold in the country for a death sentence.
His retrial has pushed back several times — though not without a series of twists and turns. Last July, the jury said it couldn’t reach a unanimous decision on the first-degree murder charges after three days of deliberation. The mistrial set off a whirlwind that ended with a prosecutor ousted, key evidence thrown out and new charges.
READ MORE: Nearly a year after hung jury, YNW Melly’s retrial still looms. Where does case stand?
While attorneys began selecting jurors at the end of 2023, it’s unlikely that a jury will be seated for months. The case has remained at a standstill after prosecutors appealed to a higher court concerning a ruling Murphy made to throw out evidence.
The bulk of the contested evidence was extracted from Melly’s cellphone, email addresses and social media accounts. Under Murphy’s ruling, most of the digital evidence admitted, including messages, will be confined to the day of and following the murders.
The higher court, however, could overturn Murphy’s decision.
In October, Melly, codefendant Cortlen Henry, who’s also charged with the murders, and inmate Terrence Mathis were all accused of developing “a sophisticated system” of code words and fake names to communicate with people outside the jail. The trio was charged with witness tampering after Mariah Hamilton, Melly’s ex-girlfriend, has avoided testifying.
Fein on Monday scheduled a pretrial hearing on the tampering case for Dec. 5.
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 7:01 PM.
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