The YNW Melly murder case is the pending Florida double-homicide prosecution of rapper Jamell Maurice Demons, who has been jailed in Broward County since February 2019 on two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two friends and fellow YNW collective members. His first trial ended in a mistrial in July 2023 when jurors deadlocked. A retrial is scheduled to begin January 6, 2027, and prosecutors are still seeking the death penalty.1NBC Miami. Rapper YNW Melly’s Retrial in Double Murder Case Pushed Back to 2027
Who YNW Melly Is
Demons, born May 1, 1999, grew up in Gifford, a small community on Florida’s Treasure Coast.2AllMusic. YNW Melly Biography He broke through in 2018 with the triple-platinum single “Murder on My Mind,” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.3Digital Music News. YNW Melly Releases Album While Incarcerated His January 2019 mixtape We All Shine included a Kanye West collaboration. Weeks after it dropped, he was arrested and charged with double murder. He has continued releasing music from jail, including Melly vs. Melvin in 2019, Just a Matter of Slime in 2021, and Young New Wave in 2024.4HotNewHipHop. YNW Melly Profile
What Prosecutors Say Happened
On the night of October 26, 2018, Demons and three members of the YNW collective left a Fort Lauderdale recording studio in a Jeep Compass. Cortlen Henry (YNW Bortlen) was driving. The passengers were 21-year-old Anthony Williams (YNW Sakchaser) and 19-year-old Christopher Thomas Jr. (YNW Juvy).5TCPalm. Anthony Williams, Christopher Thomas Jr. Shootings Three Years Later
Prosecutors allege Demons shot Williams and Thomas in the head while seated in the left rear seat. He and Henry then drove to a remote area near the Everglades at the dead end of Pembroke Road, according to the state’s theory, where they fired additional rounds into the bodies and the exterior of the vehicle to make the killings look like a drive-by attack. Henry drove to Miramar Memorial Hospital at 4:35 a.m. and told staff they had been ambushed on Interstate 75.6Billboard. YNW Melly Double Murder Case Details Investigators searched the area Henry described and found no evidence of a shooting there.
A wrongful death complaint from the victims’ families characterized the motive as the “prospects of large amounts of money” and the belief that fewer people splitting future earnings would mean more for those remaining.5TCPalm. Anthony Williams, Christopher Thomas Jr. Shootings Three Years Later
The Evidence Against Him
At the first trial, shooting reconstruction expert Sergeant Christopher Williams testified that the fatal shots were fired from inside the vehicle at close range, pointing to an abrasion ring and stippling on Thomas’s entrance wound.7Local10. YNW Melly on Trial: Shooting Reconstruction Expert Testifies Both victims were shot in the head with bullets entering from the left side, consistent with a shooter seated in the left rear.8Miami Herald. YNW Melly Double Murder Trial Evidence A single .40-caliber shell casing was recovered from the floorboard of that seat.6Billboard. YNW Melly Double Murder Case Details
Studio surveillance footage showed Demons entering the left rear of the Jeep before the group left. FBI cell phone forensics placed the phones of those involved in proximity to one another that night, though an agent could not confirm they were at exactly the same location.8Miami Herald. YNW Melly Double Murder Trial Evidence Prosecutors also introduced Snapchat messages in which Demons appeared to reference the events, writing about Henry, “Dis n**** saved my life he koming everywhere wit me.”6Billboard. YNW Melly Double Murder Case Details
The case has real gaps. Investigators never recovered the murder weapon. No gunpowder residue was found on Demons. DNA analysts did not find his DNA on most items pulled from the vehicle, though a later test turned up a possible match on the rear passenger-side door handle.8Miami Herald. YNW Melly Double Murder Trial Evidence
The 2023 Mistrial
The first trial began in June 2023 before Broward Circuit Judge John Murphy. After weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated for three days. On July 21, 2023, jurors said they were struggling to reach a verdict. Judge Murphy read an Allen charge urging them to keep trying. The following day the panel reported it was still deadlocked, and Murphy declared a mistrial on July 22, 2023.9Miami Herald. YNW Melly Trial Ends in Mistrial Reporting indicated the jury split 9–3 in favor of conviction.10Rolling Stone. YNW Melly Florida Death Penalty The Broward State Attorney’s Office announced it would retry the case.
Florida’s Changed Death Penalty Rule
Governor Ron DeSantis signed a 2023 law removing the requirement for a unanimous jury recommendation to impose a death sentence, lowering the threshold to an 8–4 vote. A judge ruled that the new standard applies to the retrial, calling the change procedural.10Rolling Stone. YNW Melly Florida Death Penalty The death penalty designation itself was briefly vacated in 2022 after a judge found prosecutors had missed a required 45-day notice, but an appellate judge reversed that ruling later the same year and reinstated it as a possible sentence.11The FADER. YNW Melly’s Murder Trial Explained
The Co-Defendant’s Plea Deal
On September 9, 2025, Cortlen Henry resolved his case by pleading no contest to two counts of accessory after the fact to a capital felony, one count of witness tampering, and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Prosecutors dropped the two first-degree murder charges against him. Judge Martin Fein sentenced Henry to 10 years in prison with credit for nearly four years of time served, followed by six years of probation.12TCPalm. YNW Melly Co-Defendant Cortlen Henry Plea Deal
Whether Henry will testify against Demons is unresolved. Prosecutors said the plea required Henry to “provide a proffer as to what his testimony would be if called upon.”12TCPalm. YNW Melly Co-Defendant Cortlen Henry Plea Deal Henry’s attorney told the press there is “no requirement or expectation that he cooperate with the prosecution against his co-defendant.”13Pitchfork. YNW Bortlen Gets Murder Charges Dismissed in Plea Deal If called as a witness, Henry could not invoke the Fifth Amendment and would be required to answer truthfully.14iHeartRadio. YNW Melly’s Co-Defendant YNW Bortlen Makes Decision on Plea Deal
Digital Evidence Suppressed
In October 2025, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a ruling by former trial Judge John Murphy that barred prosecutors from using a broad collection of digital evidence obtained through what the court called “overly broad” search warrants. The suppressed material included records from Demons’s email and social media accounts.15Sun Sentinel. Appeals Court Tosses Crucial Social Media Records in YNW Melly Murder Case The court affirmed that admitted digital evidence should be limited to the day of and the days following the October 2018 murders.16Yahoo News. Appeals Court Rules Blocked Evidence in YNW Melly Case That digital evidence played a large role in the prosecution’s timeline at the first trial.
Witness Tampering Charges Dropped
In a separate case, Demons had faced four additional charges: witness tampering, directing the activities of a criminal gang, criminal solicitation to commit murder, and conspiracy to tamper with a witness on a capital case. Prosecutors dropped all four on January 20, 2026, one day before jury selection was set to begin. Demons’s defense lawyers said that upon their retention it “became immediately apparent to us that no crimes had occurred,” noting the charges had been pending for 652 days.17Rolling Stone. YNW Melly Tampering Charges Dropped
A New Defense Team
In September 2025, a judge granted Demons’s request to replace his entire legal team. The change was prompted by a conflict of interest involving then-lead attorney Raven Liberty, who had come under investigation by the Broward Sheriff’s Office in connection with a witness tampering charge. Court documents stated the existing team might be unable to fully litigate the case “without fear of further recrimination.”18NBC Miami. Judge Grants YNW Melly’s Request to Replace Legal Team The new defense is led by Atlanta attorney Drew Findling and Florida attorney Carey Haughwout, a longtime former Palm Beach County public defender.19Billboard. YNW Melly Fires Defense Lawyers, Murder Trial Postponed
The defense has also pressed misconduct allegations against the state. Attorneys accused lead Miramar Police Detective Mark Moretti of executing a search warrant for the phone of Demons’s mother, Jamie King, outside his jurisdiction, and of asking a Broward deputy to falsely say he had been present. Assistant State Attorney Michelle Boutros testified she overheard the exchange.20CBS News Miami. YNW Melly Murder Trial Delayed After Defense Attorneys Accuse Prosecutors Prosecutors characterized the remark as a joke. The defense also sought to disqualify the entire Broward State Attorney’s Office from the retrial and accused lead prosecutor Kristine Bradley of a Brady violation. Bradley said in a court filing that the inquiry was closed and no wrongdoing was found.21Miami Herald. YNW Melly Defense Alleges Prosecutorial Misconduct
Bond and Jail Conditions
Demons has been held in the Broward County Jail continuously since February 2019, more than seven years. His attorneys say he has spent the last three of those years in solitary confinement, describing the conditions as “inhumane” and “cruel.”22Rolling Stone. YNW Melly Denied Bond Ahead of Double Murder Retrial
He has tried repeatedly to secure pretrial release. In April 2020, after he tested positive for COVID-19 as the second confirmed case in the Broward jail, Circuit Judge Andrew Siegel denied an emergency motion to release him to a hospital setting.23TCPalm. Judge Denies Jamell Demons Release From Jail Due to COVID-19 In May 2026, Judge Martin Fein denied bond again after a four-hour hearing in which the defense proposed 24-hour security, no social media access, and confinement to a Broward County home.24NBC Miami. YNW Melly Denied Bond Again Ahead of Double Murder Retrial
When the Retrial Begins
Jury selection for the retrial is scheduled to begin January 6, 2027, before Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein.1NBC Miami. Rapper YNW Melly’s Retrial in Double Murder Case Pushed Back to 2027 If convicted of first-degree murder, Demons faces either the death penalty or life in prison without parole.25TCPalm. YNW Melly Update: Trial, Release Date He maintains his innocence.