FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida rapper YNW Melly was in Broward County court on Wednesday, during the third day of his trial for the 2018 murders of two of his YNW Collective rapper friends, ages 19 and 21.
The jurors who will decide the 24-year-old rapper’s fate had already seen photos of the evidence when they listened to the testimony of Jorge Bello, a Broward Sheriff’s Office firearms expert, who said a .40 caliber gun was involved.
Detectives couldn’t find the gun, so Bello, who said he examined the shell casings and projectiles in evidence, didn’t know its make and model.
“As far as the projectiles, two of them came from one firearm,” said Bello, who concluded during questioning by the defense that there could have been more than one weapon involved in the murders.
Jamell Demons, who grew up in Indian River County, became known as YNW Melly when he released his breakout song “Murder on My Mind” on SoundCloud and on YouTube in 2017. His golden single made it onto the Billboard Hot 100.
Demons partnered with Kanye West for “Mixed Personalities” and Juice Wrld for “Suicidal.” But amid his growing success, detectives accused him of fatally shooting his friends Christopher “Juvy” Thomas Jr., and Anthony “Sakchaser” Williams, on Oct. 26, 2018, in Broward County.
“A couple months ago I lost my two brothers by violence and now the system want to find justice.. unfortunately a lot of rumors and lies are being said but no worries god is with me and my brother,” Demons wrote in a message with a photo with the victims on Instagram before he surrendered on Feb. 13, 2019, and a judge denied him bond.
Cortlen “Bortlen” Henry reported their two friends had died during a drive-by shooting, but detectives said the bullets came from within the Jeep, and the victims weren’t friends, but fellow gang members. Detectives accused Demons of being the shooter and Henry of helping to cover up the murders.
About four years later, Demons and Henry maintain their innocence. Prosecutors are handling their cases separately and said there is evidence that their YNW crew was associated with G-Shine, of the United Blood Nation street gang.
Demons wore a suit and tie in court on Monday for his first day of trial. Jurors saw a video showing Henry at Memorial Miramar Hospital after he arrived in the damaged Jeep with the lifeless bodies of the two victims in 2018.
“They are dead, they are riddled with bullets, and the car is full of blood,” Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley said in court about the two victims and the Jeep.
Prosecutors claim detectives have evidence to show Henry lied about the drive-by shooting, and it includes surveillance video and mobile phone records. James Marano, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab analyst, and Michael Kelly, a crime scene supervisor for the Miramar Police Department, also testified about their work in the case.
The defense accused the detectives of fabricating the case once they realized that there was a known rapper involved. Thomas’s mother, Leondra Phillips, disagrees. She was also in court and she wants Demons to stop smiling and blowing kisses while in the courtroom.
“It has been a long process,” Phillips said. “It’s finally here and I want justice for my son.”
Broward County Circuit Judge John Murphy is presiding over the trial. If convicted, Demons could face the death penalty.
YNW Melly released “Melly vs. Melvin,” his debut album, in 2019. “Just a Matter of Slime” — which features Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, and Lil Baby — was his second album, released in 2021. He has over six million followers on YouTube and over four million on Instagram.