Florida rapper YNW Melly has now been charged with witness tampering in his murder case weeks before his retrial. The artist received a mistrial earlier this year as the jury failed to decide unanimously. However, the emcee is now in further trouble.
According to an affidavit obtained by XXL, YNW Melly and his accomplice, YNW Bortlen, have been assisted by an inmate named Terrence Mathis in acquiring a phone. According to the document, the device has been used to communicate with Melly’s ex-girlfriend, Mariah Hamilton, and stop her from testifying.
It has been unveiled that 60 phone calls were made between March and August 2023, and the audio suggests they were using coded language and nicknames to sway the trial. However, journalist and broadcaster Bryson Paul, who has closely followed the case, has asserted that Melly’s phone privileges were restricted for much of 2023.
Melly’s case has been incredibly messy. In September, his ex-girlfriend accused law enforcement of manhandling her and threatening to put her behind bars if she didn’t cooperate in the case. YNW Bortlen’s tampering charges were brought against him the same day he was arrested. As such, his day in court has now been moved to January 12th, 2024.
YNW Melly’s trial will begin on October 9th. The current charges against him are double murder charges as well as tampering charges. The murder involved his friends YNW Sakchaser (real name Anthony Williams) and YNW Juvy (real name Christopher Thomas Jr.), who were shot in 2018.
The charges are murder in the first-degree and took four and a half years to process through the legal system. Melly has been denied bond ever since his arrest in February 2019.
While behind bars, he released an EP called Collect Call. Before his 2019 arrest, he released a mixtape which featured collaborations with Kanye West and others and has had several music videos directed by the iconic Cole Bennett of Lyrical Lemonade. However, he will most likely never release music again as he faces a lengthy prison sentence or even death.
