It’s as if the month-long double murder trial against YNW Melly never happened.
On Saturday, Judge John Murphy declared a mistrial when jurors couldn’t agree on a verdict as to whether the South Florida rapper known — born Jamell Demons — was guilty or not guilty of double murder.
“What that means to me as a defense attorney who has tried dozens of jury trials, is there was somebody in that room that was ‘gung-ho’ that this should be an acquittal,” said Joshua Rydell, a local criminal defense attorney following the case. “That’s what this says to me. There were people that didn’t buy the state’s theory, and were never going to be in a place to even discuss the case.”
The state alleges Demons shot and killed two childhood friends, Christopher Thomas Jr. and Anthony Williams, in October of 2018. They were all part of the YNW rapper collective. The state argued Demons shot the men in a car and then staged a drive-by shooting to cover up the crime.
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“Anthony Williams was shot in the back of the head. That was planned for when he was sleeping so that he couldn’t fight back. That was a premeditated planned killing of Williams, where there would be an alibi already discussed,” said assistant state prosecutor Kristine Bradley.
The defense alleges Demons was home sleeping at the time and that a co-defendant named Corten Henry is responsible.
“They want you to believe he is a cold-hearted murderer when quite to the contrary, you saw the tapes, you saw he is a nice young man and a professional,” said defense attorney Stuart Adelstein.
The Broward County State Attorney’s office confirmed to NBC6 they will retry this case a second time. Both sides may refine their strategy.
“The hard part of a mistrial like this is the state has shown their cards, they’ve shown their strategy, they’re good facts and they’re bad facts,” Rydell said. “That being said, so did the defense, they highlighted their strategy. So now both sides know the playbook that the other side is working with.”
What is certain is a second trial means added costs for taxpayers.
“One courtroom was shut down for six to seven weeks of this trial, and coupled with the jury being sequestered, hotel stays, extra BSO security to make that happen. If they try it again there will definitely be a cost to the taxpayers of Broward County,” Rydell said.
A status hearing is set for Friday morning in Judge Murphy’s courtroom. There is no date set yet for a retrial.
