YNW Melly trial juror claims rapper was framed

A juror from the YNW Melly trial has claimed that the Florida rapper, who is famed for the song ‘Murder on My Mind’, was framed for the alleged double murder case. 

A report from The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has revealed that juror number seven, whose identity is being kept under wraps, said there’s a significant lack of evidence against YNW Melly (real name Jamell Demons). 

“I believe that he didn’t do it, and it wasn’t proved in court,” said the unnamed juror from Fort Lauderdale. “This was a really bad situation of being framed. Melly was a very good person. He always tried to help out people around him.”

The juror added that the prosecution’s insistence on linking his actions to “gang activity” bordered on racial profiling. This stance has been fuelled by the fact that, while the defendant and most of the jury are Black, the prosecutor is White. 

“This was not a matter of fact but a matter of race,” she added. “I wasn’t there, but I believe he was being framed based on the text messages.”

It is unclear whether juror number seven is the member who allegedly “manipulated” two other jurors to determine Melly not guilty, resulting in the 9-3 mistrial. 

“From day one, she had issues with the foreperson selected, at one point crossing her arms and saying she was ‘Done!’ When another juror asked to not shut down and set her feelings aside, she exploded,” the anonymous juror claimed in an interview with the outlet.

“She was explosive, manipulative, she was rude, she yelled insults at anyone who had a different opinion…She was there to cause chaos.”

In August, Judge John J. Murphy III allowed the retrial date to be pushed back to October 2nd following a holiday request from Melly’s attorney, Stuart Adelstein. Melly was reportedly seen smiling and mouthing the words, “I’m coming home” to his family as he left the courtroom in his jail clothes. 

The original incident, which resulted in the deaths of YNW Melly’s friends, YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams) and YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.), occurred in October 2018.