Rapper YNW Melly’s double-murder case ends in mistrial

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The double-murder trial of rapper YNW Melly was declared a mistrial on Saturday afternoon after a jury deliberated for 14 hours without reaching a verdict.

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The jury deadlocked after three days of deliberation in the two first-degree murder charges against the rapper, whose real name is Jamell Demons, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

“We are still unable to reach a unanimous decision,” the jury wrote to Broward Circuit Court Judge John Murphy, according to the Miami Herald.

Murphy declared a mistrial as the jury confirmed it was deadlocked.

Demons, 24, will remain in custody as attorneys prepare for a retrial in 90 days with a new jury, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

“We are somewhat disappointed that Melly is not walking out the door with us,” the rapper’s defense attorney, Stuart Adelstein, told WPLG-TV. “There is a lack of evidence, there is a conflict in the evidence, and the evidence itself and the investigation itself, stinks.”

Demons is accused of fatally shooting childhood friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. on Oct. 26, 2018, the Herald reported. Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers with the YNW collective, were known as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy, according to the newspaper.

The three men were riding in a Jeep driven by Cortland Henry, known as YNW Bortlen, after a recording session in Fort Lauderdale, WTVJ reported. Prosecutors said that Demons fatally shot Williams and Thomas; Henry is charged as an accomplice in the case but will be tried separately, according to the television station.

Police said that Demons and Henry attempted a cover-up, making the crime scene resemble a drive-by shooting, the Sun-Sentinel reported. The bullets that killed the men were fired from inside the vehicle, prosecutors alleged.

Demons’ family left the courthouse after the mistrial was declared and declined comment, the Herald reported.