FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Rapper Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons appeared in Broward County court Friday for two hearings related to the 2018 murders of two of his friends.
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One of the hearings -- as Demons, 25, awaits retrial --- was about his ex-girlfriend Mariah Hamilton. The other was about Raven Liberty, his defense attorney.
Hamilton, 24, was arrested on Jan. 26 at Miami International Airport on a warrant for civil contempt in a case punishable by life or the death penalty.
After Miami-Dade County extradited Hamilton, correctional deputies booked her on Jan. 29 and held her at the Paul Rein Detention Facility.
The prosecution claimed Hamilton, a key witness in the murder cases, avoided testifying during the trial, and the defense said she was never served with a subpoena.
Broward County Circuit Judge Martin S. Fein said Hamilton could be released after she was served with the subpoenas.
“If someone subpoenas you for a deposition or a hearing or a trial, whether that is the state or whether that is the defense, you just got to answer the subpoena,” Fein told Hamilton in court.
Meanwhile, Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies investigated Liberty for alleged witness tampering. The state did not release any details.
“She is well aware of who she has e-mailed. She is well aware of who she has called,” Fein said in court about the accusations against Liberty.
Demons has been at the main jail in Fort Lauderdale without bond since Feb. 13, 2019, after detectives accused him of fatally shooting Christopher Thomas Jr. and Anthony Williams.
According to prosecutors, surveillance video shows Thomas, 19, and Williams, 21, left the New Era Recording Studio with Demons in a Jeep Compass on Oct. 26, 2018.
Hours later, surveillance video shows Cortlen “Bortlen” Henry walking into Memorial Hospital’s emergency room entrance after parking a 2018 Jeep Compass with their bodies inside, according to prosecutors.
Thomas was 19, and Williams was 21. Henry reported there was a drive-by shooting along Miramar Parkway, but prosecutors claimed evidence, including ballistics and cell phone data, showed he was helping Demons to cover up the murders.
Records show detectives reported not finding evidence of a shooting on Miramar Parkway, but on Pembroke Road and inside the Jeep, where there was a .40 caliber spent shell casing that they believed suggested the shooter was inside the Jeep.
Hamilton’s mother, Felicia Holmes, a registered nurse, testified during the trial that her daughter was in a romantic relationship with Demons when the fatal shootings happened.
There was a mistrial in 2023. Demons is facing six charges: Two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of witness tampering, planning criminal gang activities, and attempting to solicit a capital felony.
His next hearing is at 9:30 a.m., on Feb. 18.
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