Prosecutors drop YNW Melly witness tampering charges in double murder case
YNW Melly is currently behind bars, but prosecutors have reversed tampering charges against the rapper.
The Florida rapper is accused of killing his childhood friends, YNW Sakchaser (real name Anthony Williams) and YNW Juvy (real name Christopher Thomas Jr), in October 2018.
On January 20th, four charges were dropped, including tampering with a witness, directing activities of a criminal gang, criminal solicitation to commit murder, and conspiracy to tamper with a witness on a capital felony.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, the decision came one day before the trial was initially supposed to begin. Prosecutors claimed that Melly (real name Jamell Demons) tried to convince a key witness not to take the stand in his 2023 double murder retrial.
Melly’s first trial concluded with a hung jury, with a retrial set for January 2027. In September, his co-defendant, YNW Bortlen, accepted a plea deal and, in turn, received a 10-year sentence.
He pleaded no contest to one count of tampering with a witness, two counts of being an accessory to a capital felony, and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
The deal dismissed two counts of first-degree murder, one count of witness tampering, and directing the activities of a criminal gang
Melly is facing a potential death penalty or life sentence. Police claim he staged the crime scene to appear as a drive-by shooting.
Sakchaser and Juvy suffered multiple gunshot wounds, with Bortlen accused of driving their bodies to an emergency room.
Melly released his last project, Young New Wave, in April 2024. The biggest song, ‘772 Love Pt. 3’, has over 13 million streams. Despite the charges against him, he still has 9.7 monthly Spotify listeners.