YNW Melly, who gained notoriety with “Murder on My Mind,” has been in the news as his trial for the double murder of Christopher “Juvy” Thomas Jr. and Anthony “Sak” Williams in October 2018 has once again been put on hold.
In the rapper’s case, prosecutors are attempting to reverse the judge’s decision that spared Melly from the death penalty. The judge argued against the death penalty based on Florida’s failure to provide Melly and his attorney with appropriate notice beforehand, but prosecutors think the judge’s reasoning was faulty.
“The State’s discretion to seek the death penalty does not absolve it of its duty to strictly comply with the notice requirements,” the judge noted in a July 6 ruling. “To permit the State to seek the death penalty when it has not complied with the 45-day notice requirement would run clearly counter to the requirements of the rule and the intent of the Florida Supreme Court.”
Due to the impasse, Melly’s trial has been postponed until the state appeals court can decide if they can seek the death penalty. The length of time it will take to file the appeal is unknown. Judge Siegel has set a status conference for July 21 in the interim, although it’s possible that no decision will be made on the death penalty during the meeting.
Police arrested Melly in February 2019 for his alleged involvement in the crime; a month later, he entered a not guilty plea and is still being held without bail.
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Table of Contents
Legal background
Melly has struggled with the law ever since he was a teenager. Melly once fired a gun at a crowd of people close to Vero Beach High School while he was a freshman in high school, but no one was hurt. In the end, he was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of firing a gun in public.
Additionally, he was taken into custody twice more. In Fort Myers, Florida, on June 30, 2018, police apprehended him on suspicion of marijuana possession, possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon, and possession of drug paraphernalia. In January 2019, soon before the release of his We All Shine mixtape, Melly was once more detained on suspicion of marijuana possession.
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Double homicide
After leaving a Florida studio in a Jeep Compass during the early hours of October 26, 2018, Christopher “Juvy” Thomas Jr. and Anthony “Sak” Williams are both murdered in what Melly and YNW Bortlen claimed to detectives was a drive-by shooting. After being dropped off by Melly and Bortlen at the Miramar Memorial Hospital at around 4:35 a.m. ET, both Thomas, and Williams are determined to be dead upon inspection by emergency department doctors.
On February 13 of 2019, the Miramar Police Department detained Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons and Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry and charged them with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the murders of Thomas Jr. and Williams. Law enforcement determines from the forensic evidence that Melly and Bortlen constructed the crime scene to mimic a drive-by shooting and that Melly was the shooter responsible for both killings. In March 2019, Melly entered a not-guilty plea.
Suspect in the shooting of an off-duty police officer
Authorities identified YNW Melly and Bortlen as suspects in the 2017 shooting death of Indian River County Sheriff’s deputy Gary Chambliss a few weeks after their detention on double murder charges. According to VeroNews sources, law enforcement believes that Melly and Bortlen were part of a group of people who were firing weapons when Chambliss, who was off duty at the time, was killed by a stray bullet.
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Meaning Of YNW
We are currently residing in a Young N-a World. “We were all just children at the time. I was there with my friends. When starting the YNW group, I was just the muscle, he told Billboard in 2019. “From the females to the money, everything is happening because of me. I managed to pop it all. Someone in the group was absolutely stoned when they made a comment about the “Young N—a World.”
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COVID-19 behind bars
On April 2, 2020, Melly’s Instagram account made it official that he had caught the coronavirus while incarcerated in Florida’s Broward County Jail. In order to get better care and treatment for his diagnosis in the midst of the virus pandemic, the rapper’s legal team filed an urgent application for his restricted release. (It was subsequently rejected on April 14)
Bradford Cohen, Melly’s attorney, stated at the time, “I have filed a motion on behalf of Jamell Demons to have him released to a hospital for any treatment necessary for his diagnosis of COVID-19.” “It’s a scary situation for all inmates in the jails, as I believe most jails think they can handle this outbreak and my opinion is they cannot.”
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Possible Death Penalty
Early in July 2022, the court overseeing Melly’s case determined that the prosecution cannot pursue the death penalty against the rapper. However, the prosecution is now suing to have the judge’s ruling overturned, which would cause another delay in the rapper’s three-year-long trial.
Prosecutors claim they disagree with Judge Andrew Siegel’s decision and urge him to consider the death penalty as a possible punishment in a motion filed on July 8, 2022. As a result of failing to provide Melly and his respective attorneys with the required notice 45 days beforehand, according to Judge Siegel, the state of Florida waived its right to file charges carrying the death penalty.
On July 13, 2022, the commencement of Melly’s first-degree murder trial was formally postponed until the state appeals court can rule on the prosecution’s right to pursue the death sentence against the rapper. A status conference has been scheduled for July 21, 2022, however, a decision may not be made on that day.
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About YNW Melly’s Career
In 2016, Demons changed his stage name to YNW Melly. Hip-hop group YNW, which stands for “Young Nigga World” or “Young New Wave,” consisted of Demons, Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr., Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams, and Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry.
Demons released his debut EP, Collect Call, in late 2017 while he was still a prisoner. It included Lil B and John Wicks among other well-known musicians.
The singles “Virtual (Blue Balenciagas),” “Melly the Menace,” and “Slang That Iron” were all released by him in 2018. “4 Real,” “Butter Pecan,” and “Medium Fries” are some further singles. As of January 2019, the corresponding music videos had 26 million, 16 million, and 11 million views on YouTube.
Melly released his debut mixtape, I Am You, in August 2018. On January 10, 2019, it debuted at number 192 on the Billboard 200.
Melly released We All Shine, his second commercial mixtape with 16 tracks, on January 18, 2019, while he was jailed. Kanye West and Fredo Bang both contributed to the project. Along with the album, a music video for West’s “Mixed Personalities” starring Lyrical Lemonade and Cole Bennett was made.
Melly had over 200 million Spotify streams and over 10 million monthly listeners as of March 2019. “Murder on My Mind,” which was first made available as a single before being included on I Am You, was his most streamed song.
Melly vs. Melvin, Demons’ first studio album, was released on November 22. It was his highest-charting album, peaking at number eight on the Billboard 200. The single “223’s” from the album reached number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The second song from Melly vs. Melvin was “Suicidal,” which Demons remixed and released on March 13, 2020. Juice Wrld, a late American rapper, and musician contributed to the remix, making it his third legitimate posthumous appearance. The song became Melly’s second top 20 entry after reaching its Hot 100 high at number 20.
Melly enlisted fellow Florida musician Kodak Black for the release of “Thugged Out” on March 5, 2021, after a year of silence from music releases and continued litigation in his ongoing murder prosecution. Other famous hits, including “Pieces” with Queen Naija and “Bestfriend 4L” with Lil Tjay, came after this. The singles preceding Melly’s second studio album, Just a Matter Of Slime, including Melly vs. Melvin, were released while he was behind bars and were stitched together with previously recorded vocals.
Inspired by legendary musicians
In an interview with Billboard at the beginning of 2019, Melly cited Chris Brown, Michael Jackson, and Lil Wayne as the three artists who first inspired him to start writing music. The rapper asserts that by regularly listening to both MJ and C-Breezy, he taught himself how to sing.
Worked With Kanye West
YNW Melly initially didn’t believe Kanye West’s request to collaborate with him in 2018. Melly eventually found himself in the recording studio with West after some searching on Ye’s behalf. Yeezy related to the message of “Mixed Personalities,” so he persuaded Melly to let him board the show. The platinum-certified song from Melly’s We All Shine album would go on to stand out, reaching its Billboard Hot 100 peak at No. 42 in 2019.
