YNW Melly changed his clothes after shooting, witness says
Treveon Glass was in the same recording studio as Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons and the two men Demons is accused of murdering in late October 2018. He watched them get into a Jeep and drive away together.
Hours later, after word of the murders started getting around, Glass said he saw Demons at another friend’s house. Demons had changed his clothes.
Glass’ testimony helped solidify a part of the prosecution’s case that wasn’t much in question. Demons is accused of shooting to death Christopher Thomas and Anthony Williams, two men who before Oct. 26, 2018, would have been counted among his closest friends.
Prosecutors say the victims were shot from the inside of a Jeep that Cortland Henry was driving at the time. Experts have testified that the shots were fired from inside the Jeep, by a person sitting behind the driver.
Glass confirmed a surveillance video that showed Demons getting behind the driver’s seat.
After they left the studio, Glass drove with one group of friends to Demons’ home in Miramar, where Glass said he fell asleep. Prosecutors say that was about the same time Demons shot and killed the victims.
Henry and Demons then stepped outside the car and fired shots into the passenger side to make it look like Thomas and Williams were victims of a drive-by shooting.
The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered, and it’s not clear how much time elapsed between when Demons got into the back seat and the shooting. Defense lawyers contend Demons was not in the car at the time. Evidence shows his phone was, but it will be up to the jury to decide whether that is enough to erase any reasonable doubt they might have.
Glass said he learned about the shooting shortly after it happened and that he and his friends left Demons’ home for another friend’s. It was there that Glass said he saw Demons again, and that Demons had changed his clothes.
Glass also admitted he had been watching parts of the trial online as it progressed, a violation of instructions that were given to witnesses after the trial began. His testimony was allowed to stand.
Late last week, Broward Circuit Judge John J. Murphy declined a prosecution request that would have allowed jurors to visit the impounded Jeep where the shooting took place. Murphy said the demonstration that was performed in the courtroom was enough for the jury to picture what happened, and seeing the bloodied vehicle would not add any evidence of substance for them to consider.
Crime scene visits have been a tool in numerous murder cases in Broward, especially in death penalty cases. Prosecutors were allowed to recreate the scene where Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Tephford was shot in 2006. Jurors toured the site of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year. And another jury walked into the freezer and kitchen where Gerhard Hojan terrorized victims at a Waffle House in Davie in 2002.
Of those three cases, only Hojan’s ended in a death sentence.
In the case against Demons, Murphy said the visit would be “overkill.” Demons faces the death penalty if convicted. Henry has also been charged in the case and is scheduled to be tried separately.
The Demons trial resumes Tuesday.
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