YNW Melly’s witness-tampering charges dropped. Rapper still faces murder trial

Prosecutors on Tuesday morning dropped witness-tampering charges against YNW Melly just as the rapper’s trial was to begin.

Melly, 26, whose real name is Jamell Demons, was accused of colluding with co-defendant Cortlen Henry and fellow inmate Terrence Mathis to keep his ex-girlfriend from testifying in his double-murder case. The tampering trial was set to begin with jury selection on Wednesday.

Melly is charged with 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.

The “Murder on My Mind” rapper, who is being held at the Broward County Main Jail, will still face trial in the double-murder case. If convicted, he could be sentenced to the death penalty. Melly’s original murder trial in 2023 ended with a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, attorneys Carey Haughwout and Drew Findling said they welcomed the dismissal — and hope Melly is released from jail as he awaits his trial.

“As his newly retained legal team, it became immediately apparent to us that no crimes had occurred,” the attorneys said. “Unfortunately, for 652 days while these charges were pending, the State did not reach the same conclusion until the cusp of trial.”

The charges were dropped because Melly’s ex, Mariah Hamilton, the witness whom he was accused of tampering with, “has made it clear she will be a hostile witness,” according to a memo penned by prosecutor Alixandra Buckelew.

The memo also mentions how the judge said he would not rule on the admissibility of the phone calls until prosecutors presented their case at trial. The evidence in the case, the memo says, shows “significant consciousness of guilt” and will be used in the murder trial.

“Should the evidence be suppressed after a jury is sworn, the State would have no appellate rights, and further, an acquittal would impair the presentation of this evidence during the homicide trial.”

A sophisticated scheme?

Melly, Henry and Mathis, then a Broward jail inmate who was being held on a murder charge, had “developed a sophisticated system to communicate with individuals outside the Broward County jail” using code words and false names, according to prosecutors. Henry and Mathis are now in prison.

Mathis made more than 60 calls to Henry, who was out on bond, prosecutors say. On several occasions, he told Henry to call “Rihanna” and “A$AP Rocky’s baby mama” to make sure she’s still in the “Maybach.” Rihanna, a well-known singer-songwriter, shares three children with rapper A$AP Rocky.

Prosecutors decoded the message to mean that Henry should keep Melly’s ex, Hamilton, away from testifying, according to court records.

“The defendant went to great lengths to have others contact Mariah Hamilton for him,” a court filing said. “Because he was in jail and had his phone privileges taken away previously by [the Broward Sheriff’s Office] for numerous violations, he utilized fellow gang members to do his dirty work.”

Last September, Henry, Melly’s confidant, reached a plea deal with prosecutors where they dropped the two murder charges against him. Henry, 26, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of accessory after the fact and witness tampering.

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 the case had gone to trial and he was convicted.

Mathis, too, struck a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to five years on the witness-tampering charges. Mathis is serving a life sentence in an unrelated murder case.

This report will be updated as more information becomes available

This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 11:11 AM.

Grethel Aguila

Miami Herald

Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.