FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Rapper Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons, who is awaiting retrial for the murders of two of his fellow YNW rappers nearly five years ago in Broward County, is facing a new charge of witness tampering in a capital case, prosecutors said Thursday.
Rappers Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams were fatally shot while in a Jeep Compass on Oct. 26, 2018, after a recording session with Demons at a studio in Broward County, police said.
Rapper Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry, who was driving the bullet-riddled Jeep Compass with Thomas and Williams dead when he arrived at a hospital in Miramar, reported there was a drive-by shooting. Williams was 21. Thomas was 19.
The prosecution accused Demons of fatally shooting them while inside the Jeep, and of using his alleged position as a member of the Bloods gang to ask fellow inmate Terrence Mathis, another alleged Bloods member, to help him get a message to Henry to prevent his ex-girlfriend from testifying.
“Demons has developed a sophisticated system to communicate with individuals outside of the Broward County jail,” the prosecution wrote adding that there was a recorded call indicating Demons had sent a message to Henry, who is on house arrest, through Mathis about keeping Rihanna Hamilton “away from court.”
Demons, who is not allowed to use the phone while in jail, wrote notes to Mathis who then talked to Henry, according to prosecutors.
“The deposition of Ms. Hamilton was supposed to take place on May 5, 2023, as evidenced by the May 1, 2023 filing by counsel for Mr. Demons,” the prosecution wrote. “The deposition did not take place, as Ms. Hamilton did not appear.”
The defense accused the prosecution of conspiring to cover up that a prosecutor reported Miramar Detective Mark Moretti, the lead detective, allegedly asked a Broward Sheriff’s Office colleague to lie about being present when he seized a cell phone from Demons’s mother, Jamie King.
Miramar’s internal affairs investigated Moretti and the BSO deputy denied the prosecutor’s report. The defense asked Broward County Circuit Judge John Murphy to dismiss the case or assign new prosecutors. Murphy set a hearing to discuss the motions on Friday.
The first trial ended with a hung jury. Jury selection in the retrial is set to start next week. Opening statements may be in November. If a jury convicts Demons of two counts of first-degree murder during the upcoming retrial, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
Witness tampering in a capital case also carries the possibility of life in prison.