YNW Melly double homicide trial ends in mistrial. Here's what happened throughout trial
Mistrial Declared
A deadlocked jury prompted a mistrial Saturday in the South Florida trial of rapper YNW Melly on charges that he murdered two of his friends five years ago.
The 12-member panel could not reach a unanimous verdict after three days of deliberations. Broward County prosecutors, who had been seeking the death penalty, will likely choose to retry the case with a new jury. A unanimous verdict is required to convict or acquit a defendant.
READ FULL STORY: Murder trial of rapper YNW Melly ends in mistrial
Jury deliberating
After not reaching a verdict Friday, a Broward County jury will return to court Saturday to continue deliberations in the death penalty trial of famed Gifford rapper Jamell Demons, known as YNW Melly, the accused shooter in a 2018 double homicide.
The 12-member jury panel, which got the case Thursday afternoon, deliberated for just over nine hours before being transported to a hotel for the night, Circuit Judge John Murphy III announced Friday at 5:15 p.m. The jury was ordered to be sequestered until a verdict was reached.
Jurors began deliberating after state prosecutors and Demons’ defense team made their closing arguments in the trial that included 16 days of testimony.
Demons, and his childhood friend and recording partner Cortlen Henry — YNW Bortlen — now both 24, have pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm in the 2018 shooting deaths of friends Anthony Williams, 21 — aka YNW Sakchaser — and Christopher Thomas Jr., 19 — aka YNW Juvy.
Henry is being tried separately.
Friday afternoon Murphy gave jurors special instructions, known as an "Allen charge,'' in which he urged them to try harder to reach a verdict, and be open to arguments to change their minds.
Those instructions followed a note sent to Murphy at 2:15 p.m., signed by the jury foreperson asking, “What if we can’t come to a decision? Everyone is stuck on which side they've chosen."
Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley Thursday reminded jurors that the fatal shots came from inside a Jeep where Williams and Thomas had been shot, and by every account, from the seat where YNW Melly was sitting, according to the Associated Press.
She said despite not recovering the murder weapon, the physical evidence presented at trial shows “Jemall Demons was sitting in the backseat of that Jeep.
“And he was the one that fired the fatal shots that killed Christopher Thomas and Anthony Williams. And you know that because even if you choose to disbelieve one part of the evidence, two parts of the evidence, you can see what the overall picture is,” Bradley said.
“The overall picture puts Mr. Demons in the back seat of that Jeep. It puts him holding a gun. You don’t need a murder weapon to know that he committed these two crimes.”
Defense attorney Stuart Adelstein, in his closing argument, noted that the gun used in the shooting was never recovered. He reminded the jury “the burden of proof is on the state.”
He called the more than 100 trial exhibits presented by prosecutors “a smoke screen,” and argued no one could finger Demons as the shooter.
“There's absolutely no eyewitness that will implicate this young man to this crime, these crimes,” said Adelstein, adding “I suggest to you there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to show premeditation.”
He insisted Demons had no apparent motive and the state failed to prove he was the shooter.
“They want you to believe he’s a cold-hearted murderer, when quite to the contrary,” Adelstein said. “You saw the (video) tapes; you saw that he’s a nice young man and a professional.”
On Wednesday, Demons announced in court he would not take the stand to testify after the defense called just a single witness.
Demons’ defense team on Tuesday questioned Adrian Davis, who was with Demons hours before the murders as a group left a Fort Lauderdale recording studios in two vehicles.
Davis got into a red car with friends as Demons exited in a Jeep with Williams, Thomas Jr and driver Cortland Henry, a recording partner who also faces murder charges.
Davis testified that on their way home, Demons exited the Jeep and got into the red car and it wasn’t until hours later the men learned of the murders.
“Are you 100% sure that this young man learned of the shooting of his friends at the exact same time you learned of it?” defense attorney Stuart Adelstein asked Davis.
“Yes,” he replied.
“And that was at the house?” pressed Adelstein.
“Yes,” Davis said.
Defense attorneys had earlier lost a bid to show jurors part of a documentary film about Demons that featured Thomas Jr. and Williams.
In arguing for the video to be played in court, defense attorney David A. Howard said the video portrays the affection shared between Demons and his childhood friends.
“This notion that Mr. Demons decided to kill two of his best friends for some promotion in a gang, there hasn't been a scintilla of evidence to suggest that,” Howard said.
The state rested Monday after showing jurors an Instagram post from Demons’ account the day of the murders that prosecutors said was a confession.
The trial briefly recessed July 12 after Murphy was told one of Demons’ defense attorneys felt ill and couldn’t participate.
Before calling for the four-day break, Murphy denied a mistrial motion argued by Demons’ lawyer Davide A. Howard, who objected to “reams and reams” of text messages admitted as evidence that he characterized as “irrelevant and prejudicial.”
Mark Moretti, a Miramar Police homicide detective, spent nearly two days this week testifying about cell phone data and may return to the stand next week.
On July 10, prosecutors questioned Traveon Glass, who was seen on surveillance video with Demons leaving a recording studio hours before the deadly shooting, testified that he saw Demons wearing different clothes later in the night at a friend’s house.
On June 29, before the trial paused for a week, Leondra Phillips, the mother of murder victim Christopher Thomas Jr. – aka YNW Juvy − took the stand to identify her 19-year-old son, who was recorded on surveillance video getting into the back seat of a Jeep Compass with Demons, 24, along with Cortlen Henry, 24, of Gifford, and Anthony Williams — aka YNW Sakchaser − on Oct. 26, 2018.
The video was recorded hours before Williams and Thomas were shot to death during what law enforcement authorities later called a staged drive-by shooting.
Demons and Henry are charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a firearm.
Broward County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Christopher Williams also wrapped up his testimony that began June 28.
Earlier in the week, a medical examiner was called to testify, along with an undercover gang expert who works for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
Detective Danny Polo was permitted to testify last week wearing a black ski mask to shield his identity after he told Murphy his life had been threatened because of his work infiltrating gangs.
Circuit Judge John Murphy III on Monday told Polo to remove the mask while seated at the witness stand.
Demons’ defense attorney David Howard had objected to Polo testifying while hiding his face.
State prosecutors have also questioned a DNA expert and a T-Mobile official about phone records being introduced as evidence.
Murphy last week denied a defense motion for a mistral after Demons' lawyers sought the ruling following testimony from Demons’ ex-girlfriend’s mother, Felicia Holmes, who took the stand as a state witness. Demons’ lawyers had argued after her testimony that state prosecutors deliberately elicited statements in an effort to bring in inadmissible evidence that “tainted” the jury.
State prosecutors during the first week of trial called three law enforcement officials, including a firearms expert, to testify about DNA, fingerprint and ballistics evidence collected in the case.
Opening statements and testimony began June 12 with state prosecutors previewing their case against Demons, 24, who with his childhood friend and recording partner Cortlen Henry, are accused of the shooting deaths of friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr.
Demons and Henry were both 19 when Thomas, 19, of Gifford in Indian River County, and Williams, 21, of Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County, were fatally shot.
Demons turned himself in to Broward County officials on Feb. 13, 2019 after being indicted by a grand jury on Feb. 7. He pleaded not guilty to the capital murder charges and has been incarcerated at Broward County Jail since 2019.
Henry, who also pleaded not guilty, is not facing the death penalty; he was released in 2020 on bail and conditions of house arrest.
State prosecutors in court June 13 showed jurors photos of the 2018 Jeep Compass and questioned a criminal investigator about fingerprint evidence collected from the Jeep.
Trial was livestreamed
Law&Crime partnered with hip-hop music journalist Byson Paul as a correspondent on the trial.
The trial is being broadcast through the Law&Crime Network which can be accessed through a cable provider, streaming service and radio. Here is the full list of how you can follow along on the trial. Click here to watch the live stream of the trial on YouTube.
State and defense attorneys addressed jury during trial's first day
State prosecutors questioned a detective and a criminal investigator on the stand following opening statements June 12.
During her opening remarks, Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley told jurors when Henry was questioned by investigators, he repeatedly lied about the shootings.
She said there was a "lack of evidence," to show Wilson and Thomas Jr. were killed in a drive-by shooting.
Miramar police, Bradley said, found no evidence of shots fired in the location Henry said the shooting occurred.
“Things aren’t adding up,” she said.
Bradley said before the shootings, Henry was driving the Jeep and Demons was in the back seat on the driver’s side. Williams was in the front passenger seat and Taylor Jr. was behind him in the back seat.
Ballistic evidence and medical examiner reports show both Wilson and Thomas Jr. were shot inside the Jeep with a weapon that was never recovered, Bradley said Monday.
“The fatal wounds for Christopher Thomas and Anthony Williams are coming in from inside the vehicle from the rear driver side passenger going out towards the passenger side,” she said. “The other interesting thing the Medical Examiner's office is going to tell you is that when the drive-by was staged at 4:02 a.m., the victims were already dead.”
The bullet that caused the fatal shot to the back of Williams’ head blew out the front passenger window, she said.
The shot that killed Thomas Jr. struck his left cheek.
And both bodies showed “post-mortem-inflicted gunshot wounds,” Bradley told jurors.
During his opening statement, Demons' attorney David Howard on Monday told the jury the state’s case was based on an “incompetent, incomplete investigation,” and prosecutors lacked any proof of a motive for the double homicides.
What happens if Demons is convicted?
If a jury finds Demons guilty of first-degree murder during the first part of his trial, the same jury that convicted him would then determine his punishment, which can only be life in prison or execution.
By state law, first-degree murder is punishable either by death or life without parole for suspects at least 18 years old at the time of the offense.
If there is a penalty phase, state prosecutors will be able to rely on Florida’s new death penalty statute that reduces from 12 to eight the number of juror votes required to recommend a defendant guilty of capital murder be put to death, according to a June 2 order issued by Circuit Judge John J. Murphy III.
The new statute signed into law April 20 by Gov. Ron DeSantis – 10 days after jury vetting began for Demons’ trial − dropped a requirement that all 12 jurors vote in favor of execution before a judge could impose the death penalty.
Demons’ lawyers had argued the new statute couldn’t be used in his case because nothing in it showed lawmakers intended that the amended law be applied retroactively.
Murphy, though, ruled “it is not fundamentally unfair” for Demons to be sentenced under the amended statute, “nor would it violate his right to due process of law.”
YNW Melly accused shooter: New details released about alleged cover-up
'Versace on my sneaks', COVID in jail: Gifford rap star YNW Melly's life behind bars
Who is YNW Melly? 24-year-old rapper on trial in 2018 murder case
Jamell Demons: Jury selection underway in YNW Melly's double murder trial in Broward County
Capital murder: Prosecutors seek death penalty against rap artist YNW Melly in double homicide case
YNW Melly murder case: Anthony Williams, Christopher Thomas Jr. shootings 3 years later
The state on April 18, 2019 filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty alleging in part, “the capital felony was committed for pecuniary (monetary) gain.”
When determining whether capital punishment is warranted, the law requires the state to list the aggravating circumstances, or reasons why a sentence of death is legal and appropriate. Prosecutors weigh such aggravators against any potential mitigating evidence, such as neurological problems, substance abuse or diminished mental health.
In court filings, prosecutors have stated their intent to prove a number of aggravating factors, arguing the alleged killings were:
∎"especially heinous, atrocious or cruel"
∎"committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification"
∎"committed by a criminal gang member"
Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.
Gianna Montesano is TCPalm's trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on Twitter @gonthescene.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: YNW Melly double homicide trial ends in mistrial. Here's what happened
