Appeals court rules on blocked evidence in YNW Melly case. What did they decide?
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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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The former judge in the YNW Melly double murder case did not abuse his discretion when he threw out weeks of digital evidence obtained from a broad warrant, an appellate court ruled Wednesday.
The evidence — mostly messages extracted from Melly’s cellphone, email addresses and social-media accounts — will not be allowed in the rapper’s retrial after the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s ruling. In 2023, former Broward Circuit Court Judge John Murphy limited the digital evidence admitted into the retrial to the day of and following the murders.
“This temporal narrowing comported with the warrant’s stated purpose to locate Demons’s whereabouts to link him to the crimes,” the Fourth District Court of Appeal said in its opinion.
The evidence issue went up to the appellate court because prosecutors appealed Murphy’s ruling. The Broward State Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the ruling Thursday, citing the case being pending and scheduled for trial. It’s unclear if prosecutors plan to challenge the appeals court’s ruling.
When reached by the Herald Thursday, YNW Melly’s legal team lauded the court’s ruling.
“We were pleased to see the appellate court recognize the unconstitutional actions of law enforcement in obtaining Mr. Demons’ private data,” attorney Carey Haughwout said. Haughwout is now representing Melly alongside prominent Georgia Attorney Drew Findling.
It’s also unclear if Melly’s retrial will now begin sooner than January 2027, although it’s likely that will be the case. Broward Circuit Court Judge Martin Fein sought to begin the retrial in September but pushed back the trial date because the state’s appeal had not been settled.
Melly, 26, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of murdering his childhood friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in a drive-by shooting in October 2018. Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers with the YNW collective, were known as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy.
He faces the death penalty, if convicted.
Last month, Melly’s codefendant and confidant Cortlen Henry reached a plea deal with prosecutors where they dropped the two murder charges. Henry, 26, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on accessory after the fact and witness tampering charges.
READ MORE: YNW Melly’s confidant strikes plea deal in double murder case. Will he testify?
As part of the plea, Henry will also give a “proffer at a later time.” In a proffer, a defendant provides information to prosecutors in exchange for a plea deal or leniency. Henry was facing several life sentences, if he had taken the case to trial.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 7:43 PM.
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