FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – There won’t be a verdict on Friday in the case of Florida rapper YNW Melly, who prosecutors accused of killing two of his fellow YNW Collective rappers over four years ago in Miramar.
Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy dismissed the jury on Friday afternoon, so deliberations can continue on Saturday morning in a Broward County courthouse room in Fort Lauderdale.
During deliberations, the jury remains sequestered, isolated from friends and family, and forced to spend their free time in a hotel under the custody of the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
“Everyone is stuck on which side they have chosen,” the jury’s foreperson wrote on Friday afternoon, according to Murphy.
Prosecutors accused Jamel “Melly” Demons of fatally shooting Christopher “Juvy” Thomas Jr. and Anthony “Sakchaser” Williams in a Jeep Compass on Oct. 26, 2018, in Broward County.
If the jury finds Demons, 24, guilty of two counts of premeditated first-degree murder, he faces the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. If the jury is unable to reach a verdict, there must be a new trial with a new jury.
Murphy asked the jury on Friday afternoon to give deliberations another chance to see if they can agree on a verdict. Nearly two hours later, the jury requested to watch the surveillance video that the prosecution displayed during testimony saying that it showed the moving Jeep Compass.
Cortland “Bortland” Henry, a co-defendant who is awaiting trial, was driving the Jeep. He reported there was a drive-by shooting in Miramar and Thomas and Williams were the victims.
The prosecution accused Demons of killing Thomas and Williams and of covering up the murders with Henry’s help. The defense said Demons had nothing to do with the shooting and accused the prosecution of presenting a case to the jury with insufficient evidence.
Surveillance videos show Thomas, 19, and Williams, 21, were last seen alive when they got into the Jeep Compass with Demons and Henry at the New Era Recording Studio at 805 NE 4 Ave., at about 3:20 a.m., and Henry showed up with both victims at about 4:35 a.m., at the Memorial Hospital Miramar, at 1701 SW 172 Ave., according to prosecutors and detectives.
The prosecution presented the testimony of a detective and expert witnesses who disagreed with Henry’s report. The experts estimated the trajectory of the bullets and the characteristics of the wounds contradicted Henry’s report that they had been the victims of a drive-by shooting along Miramar Parkway.
The prosecution cited cell phone data, which the defense disputed had not been properly verified, as part of the body of evidence that investigators used to accuse Demons and Henry of staging a drive-by shooting in a desolated area near the dead end of Pembroke Road.
A grand jury indicted Demons on Feb. 7, 2019, and he surrendered to Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies on Feb. 13, 2019. Deputies have held him without bond since. His trial’s opening statements were on June 12. There were 16 days of testimony, and the closing arguments ended on Thursday.
If their second attempt to agree on a verdict fails, Murphy told the jury on Friday that he would then have to declare a mistrial and dismiss them. Deliberations are scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC
TRIAL TIMELINE
The first week of trial: Opening statements were on June 12
The second week of trial: Prosecution’s witnesses continue to testify
The third week of trial: Testimony continues
The court is in recess
The fourth week of the trial: Testimony continues
The fifth week of the trial: State and defense rest