FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida rapper YNW Melly remained at the Broward County main jail on Monday afternoon held without bond for the murders of two of his fellow YNW Collective rappers over four years ago in Miramar, records show.
After a deadlocked jury rendered Jamel “Melly” Demons’s trial on two counts of premeditated first-degree murder invalid, records show Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy ordered Demons to appear in court at 9 a.m., on Friday, for a status hearing.
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The prosecution that was seeking Demons’s conviction for the 2018 murders of Christopher “Juvy” Thomas Jr. and Anthony “Sakchaser” Williams has about three months to announce the retrial after the mistrial.
Murphy had to declare a mistrial on Saturday after the jury could not unanimously agree if Demons was guilty of shooting Thomas, 19, and Williams, 21, after they left together in a Jeep Compass on Oct. 26, 2018.
Cortland “Bortland” Henry, a co-defendant who is awaiting trial, admitted he was driving the Jeep and reported there was a drive-by shooting along Miramar Parkway. Detectives reported they didn’t believe him.
Prosecutors accused Henry of helping Demons to cover up the murders by staging a drive-by shooting in a desolated area along Pembroke Road, east of the Florida Everglades. Detectives didn’t find a weapon.
Surveillance videos show Thomas and Williams were last seen alive when they got into the Jeep with Demons and Henry at about 3:20 a.m., at the New Era Recording Studio at 805 NE 4 Ave., and Henry showed up with both dead at about 4:35 a.m., at the Memorial Hospital Miramar, at 1701 SW 172 Ave., according to prosecutors.
A grand jury indicted Demons on Feb. 7, 2019, and he surrendered to Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies on Feb. 13, 2019. During the recent trial, the defense said Demons had nothing to do with the shooting and accused the prosecution of presenting a case with insufficient and conflicting evidence.
The 16 days of testimony included a detective and expert witnesses who estimated that the trajectory of the bullets and the characteristics of the victims’ fatal wounds contradicted Henry’s report that drive-by shooters had targeted the Jeep’s passengers.
The prosecution also cited cell phone data, which the defense disputed had not been properly verified, to allege Henry had lied about the drive-by shooting, the YNW rappers were not getting along, and Demons was associated with the G-Shine Bloods gang.
Murphy sequestered the jury during deliberations, so they were isolated from friends and family, and forced to spend their free time in a hotel under the custody of the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
The jury reported the deadlock three times before Murphy declared a mistrial on Saturday.
Had the jury found Demons guilty, he faced either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. If the prosecution seeks a retrial as expected, there must be a new jury.
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
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