Law&Crime Sidebar - Top 11 Moments from YNW Melly’s Double Murder Trial Week One

Episode Date: June 16, 2023

Rapper YNW Melly stands accused of killing two of his friends in October 2018 and staging their deaths as a drive-by shooting. Jamell Demons’ trial for the murders of Christopher Thomas Jr., aka YNW Juvy, and Anthony Williams, aka YNW Sakchaser, kicked off this week with opening statements and the beginning of the prosecution’s case against the Florida rapper. The Law&Crime Network’s Angenette Levy breaks down eleven key moments from week one of Melly’s double murder trial.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Save 10% on your entire POM Pepper Spray order by using code LAWCRIME10 at http://bit.ly/3IGNFxvLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergWriting & Video Editing - Michael DeiningerGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa Bein & Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaDevil In The DormThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. We are here because the defendant murdered two individuals. The state says YNW. Melly is a cold-blooded killer, while the defense says the state can't prove it. why he would commit such a heinous crime against his own two best friends for no reason. We are looking at the top 11 moments from week one of the YNW. Melly trial. I've covered a lot of crime stories over the years, many of them here at law and crime, and it always gets me thinking about how important it is for all of us to stay safe.

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Thomas went by YNW Juv, and Williams went by YNW Sack Chaser. A fourth member, Cortland Henry, went by YNW. Bortland. Prosecutors say on October 26, 2018, the four men left a recording studio together at 319 a.m. They're seen on surveillance video getting into a gray SUV. More than an hour later, Portland showed up at an emergency room with Juvie and SAC Chaser in the SUV. They were dead. Melly was not in the vehicle.

Portland claimed they had been the victims of a drive-by shooting, but he didn't have a scratch on him. Portland is charged separately. Mellie faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted, and he's the first person in the state of Florida to face the possibility of the death penalty under a new lower threshold. A recent change in Florida law allows a jury to impose the death penalty by a vote of 8 to 4. Up until April of this year, that vote had to be unanimous, 12 Zip. The week started with opening statements, of course. Christine Bradley is the assistant state attorney for Broward County.

She gave the opening statement for the prosecution. She described Mellie as a cold-blooded killer. On October 26 of 2018, this defendant, shot and killed two of his friends. He killed Christopher Thomas and Anthony Williams. So ladies and gentlemen, I want to set out the story in how this unfolded and lay out what I expect the evidence will show during the course of this trial. First thing you are going to hear is that at 4.35 a.m. on October 26th of 2018,

Cortland Henry, a co-defendant, shows up at Memorial Miramar Hospital. In his car, he has two dead bodies. In the front passenger seat is Anthony Williams. In the rear passenger seat is Christopher Thomas. They are dead, they are riddled with bullets, and the car is full of blood. Christopher Thomas is sitting in the rear. There is multiple defects to his body.

Anthony Williams, who is sitting in the front, has two major injuries. Officer Jessica Amengor is working a detail at the hospital. Cortland Henry runs in, starts telling a story about a drive-by, quote-unquote, drive-by. The prosecution says the story about a drive-by is made up, and there's no evidence to support it. But there is evidence of a shooting found in another location where cell phone evidence indicated Mellie and his friends had been that warning. The prosecution also talked about Melly being in a gang and an Instagram message that they say is essentially a confession. One individual and specifically sends out and I want to

quote the message exactly that you will hear and says right after this, yo homie, you good, something. And so ladies and gentlemen, this is where context matters. What does that mean? If you work at Google and you say my whole floor is coding, that's a good thing. If you work at our general hospital and you say my whole floor is coding, that is a bad thing. The context around the messages matters. So in the context of this message, this individual is reaching out, asking if Mr. Demons is good after he's been tagged in multiple social media posts about this drive through, this shooting. And Mr. Demons responds very succinctly, I did that. Sh. Then it was the defense's turn. Mellie's lead

attorney David Howard told the jury, the state can't prove. of its case. That's the first indication that they're just guessing and don't know what they're talking. That, ladies and gentlemen, by itself is reasonable doubt. Why he would commit such a heinous crime against his own two best friends for no reason. What happened here is that the lead detective, Detective Moray, saw a video of Mr. Demons getting into a car 40 plus minutes before. bodies were found in that car and then he discovered that mr. Demons was a rising star and from that point on he decided he's the only person that could have committed

this crime because if you're involved in prosecuting a star you become a star this was his big break and he had tunnel vision and he zeroed in on this person, this young man, as the only possible perpetrator of that crime to the exclusion of all other leads and evidence. Howard went on to tell the jury that the investigation cannot be trusted. Three years after arresting this young man and sticking him in a cell, the state looks at its case and says, oh, man, this looks a little incompetent. Miramar police seems to have botched this investigation and they call the Browd Sheriff's Office

and ask them to come and look at the investigation upon which this entire prosecution rests. And he looks at it and he says he instantly knew he had to start from scratch. I think his words were, it was the worst thing I had seen. in my life the state's first witness was jessica amengor she was a miramar police officer working a detail at the emergency room that morning when she described courtland henry coming in so i'm sitting at the yard desk and he comes running inside uh the to my left so the pediatric entrance and he's very excited like high state of alert something traumatic or something just happened um and he's like hey They just shot my car, they shot my friends.

I need help. You come help me. Okay. And based on the statement, how do you proceed? So as soon they walk out the ER and I see the vehicle, had multiple bullet holes on the side, I'm immediately ready to win for additional resources because that's beyond my scope of my panel by myself.

And then asking, hey, I need the additional officers, you know, as soon as possible, urgently to respond to the hospital. A vehicle that's been involved in the shooting, and they can see the multiple bullet holes. and then looking inside the agency to other spots of males so i advise have possible um dead persons in the world it's important to note courtland henry claims they were the victims of a drive-by but he doesn't have any injuries police photographed him at the hospital he doesn't have a scratch on him or any blood that seems nearly impossible since there are 16 bullet holes in that

SUV on cross-examination there was a somewhat dramatic moment when a mangore was asked this question by Mellie's attorney. Was the crime scene also inside the hospital where Mr. Cortland Henry was? Do the whole ER shut down? Okay. So in other words, no one was allowed in that area that we saw. Unless they were needing an emergency care, that would go to another room,

but the ER would shut down. So, real clear, do you know the names of all, Did you document the names of all the officers and detectives that responded? No, I didn't. So we're perfectly clear. Could you stand up? You didn't see this young man. He didn't out of the jeep at any time, correct?

No, sir. The reason the prosecution says Mellie wasn't in the backseat of the car was because they said he got out of the car at 4.02 a.m. to stage the drive-by and later sent a pin to a friend to pick him up. The prosecutor showed the jury photos of the SUV where Juvie and SAC Chaser were shot to death. Blood covers the back passenger seat where Juvie was sitting. You can also see the bullet holes from the gun being fired at the vehicle. The jury also saw photos of Bortland.

Police photographed him in the hospital. He didn't have any injuries from the shooting, which is mind-boggling, given his claim, that they were the victims of a drive-by. Police never recovered the murder weapon, but did recover a 40-caliber shell casing. The defense seized on this when cross-examining the firearms expert who analyzed all of the shell casings in this case, his name Jorge Beio.

Could you tell us beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt after all of this examination, how many firearms grid at least casings and projectiles? So, what I can say is that one firearm fired the casings, so one firearm produced, the cartridge cases that were submitted, and as far as the projectiles are concerned, I can say that two of them came from one firearm, and then the other ones could have come from the same firearm, but I cannot conclusively say that there was a... Okay, so there could be more than one firearm that created all of these islands, correct?

As far as the projectiles, yes. Okay. Fair enough. Now, after you did all of this analysis, were you able to determine what gun was used to create these projectiles and cases? No, the absence of a firearm, I cannot conclusively say it was one or the other. So essentially, Bayo is saying there could have been more than one gun used, which could help Mellie's case. He was also questioned about determining the trajectory or angle from which

a shot is fired and what variables could impact that type of testing. And if the shooting occurred inside a car, for instance, would the arm length matter of the so-called shooters, shooter or shooters? It could. And whether or not the person was leaning in one direction? Sure. We're working in a very small environment. So there's a lot of variables that one must

take into consideration before you say where the gun was or where the shooter or shooters were when they fired this final.

And if you don't take those variables, into consideration you're just giving a guesstimate of where everybody was correct I assume so I mean I had to see the situation yes and you would consider that to be not proved beyond until the excuse me as a manager of the Broward sheriff's office tool and what's title tool and fire a tool you there you certainly would want to take all those variables in before you told this jury or any jury yes scientifically I would want to make sure that I'm accounting for as many

variables as possible whenever rendering an opinion otherwise it would be just a guess yes right right I want to give a scientifically validated. Now this could be an important point. The state contends Melly fired the fatal shots from the back driver's side seat while the defense says he wasn't there and that this was a drive-by. The jury also heard testimony about gunshot residue testing. Those are particles of lead and other elements left behind after a gun is fired. What could be important in this case? The testing that was not conducted. You got the sample of the sample from Merrimar Police Department.

Yes. Specifically, Detective Moretti directed to you. Yes. And when we talk about GSR or gunshot residue, you're aware that GSR can be found on clothes. Yes, that's possible. Did Detective Moretti send you any clothes of Cortland Henry? He did not.

He didn't send you any clothes? No. Did you know that the clothes of Cortland Henry were elected by the Miramar Police Department? Objection, calls her speculation outside of the prison card. Well, I don't know the calls her speculation. She knows she can answer questions. Were you aware that The Merrimar Police Department collected.

Court of intent disclosed. No, so it was not aware. The defense will point to this as another example of the investigation being botched in their opinion. A lot has been made during this first week of trial about the way Mellie acts in front of the camera. It's not always in front of the jury. In fact, it's rarely in front of the jury. There was one moment that really got under the skin of some of the victim's families, where he appeared to be praying and then blowing kissing.

On Thursday, there were some fireworks in the courtroom when the mother of Mellie's ex-girlfriend took the stand. Felicia Holmes appeared to be a reluctant witness. Good morning, Holmes. How are you today? Not good. Are you cold? No, I'm just, you know, I just feel comfortable. Are you nervous?

I feel threatened. Before Holmes took the stand, prosecutor Christine Bradley said Holmes claimed she couldn't remember telling police in 2018 that Melly facetimed her daughter that morning. Her daughter was screaming and Mellie claimed people had fired at the SUV he was in with his friends and he thought that they were dead. Bradley said Holmes claimed in 2018 that she saw Mellie that morning and didn't see any blood on him. You remember speaking with law enforcement in December of 2008? I remember speaking with them, but I don't remember what they look like. I don't remember their names, but I do remember talking to someone. Okay. So Ms. Holmes, I'm going to ask you, were you honest and truthful with law enforcement

when you spoke with them? I would hope so. I mean, it was 2018. I was, I looked through a lot in that year, so I'm not sure where my mind is it was at that time. Did you lie to law enforcement? I would hope not. I don't remember my, I don't remember my, I don't remember what I said that. It was like five years ago. Oh, of course, of course. I understand it's been a long time. Holmes offered an explanation about why her statement after the murders, differed from her claims now. I do remember that they kind of bullied me and threatened my daughter to take her to jail for accessory.

I put back. I do remember that. Yes. And in terms of the statements that you made about what happened, you don't have any recollection. Did you read this statement multiple times? I looked at it and I just didn't call it and I, yeah. And so you indicated, you hoped you were truthful with law enforcement. Yes, I have to ask you.

to be more definitive. Were you truthful? I don't remember what I said to them that thing. So if I was to tell you something now, I could be lying. I don't want to lie to understand because you're going to take me to jail. So I'm saying what you want to say. I don't want you to say anything. I want you to tell the truth. Okay. I'm doing. Okay. Christine Bradley implied Holmes had been paid to conveniently forget what she had told police. In terms of the, have you ever said a statement to the, have you ever made a statement to the effect of you were told to quit your job and the defense would take care of us of the

judge. Excuse me. That it is? No. And we have another question. The last question, I've made the termination. I was an inappropriate, improper question. And the way it was phrased was totally improper and therefore I sustained the objection.

I am instructing you that you would disregard the question, all right? All right. I'm going to ask counsel, rephrase your question. Go ahead. Mellie's defense attorneys were outraged by the suggestion that they or anyone else were paying off homes to lie. I'm sorry, I haven't asked anything yet. Ask your question. When you first took the stand, you said, I feel threatened. Yes, sir, I do. Who do you feel threatened by?

In your honor? What are the rules? Christine Bradley and the prosecutor's office. This prosecutor. Yes, I did. Thank you. This led the defense to end the week by asking for a mistrial over Holmes's testimony and the questioning by Christine Bradley. Mr. Demens has been prejudiced. This jury sat there and watched this fiasco unfold with at least 10, maybe 15 sidebars after every two questions with the implications that were being all all predicated on the implications.

and the inadmissible testimony that Ms. Bradley herself read into and spoke into the record. And for that reason, we think that it was deliberate. It is highly prejudicial. This jury has been tainted and we moved for a misdrawn. Judge, in my entire career, I've never heard the state imply with no evidence whatsoever that the defense team would take care of this witness for her part christine bradley said these statements were attributed to felicia holmes from her instagram messages used to question her judge with regards to that the statements that were in the records are what was used as impeachment

whereas they said that they were going to take care of us defense read into it and implied it meant There is never said the defense team in any way, shape, or form. Judge John Murphy said he will rule on the motion for mistrial on Tuesday after the long holiday weekend. He told the defense team to consult with Melly to be sure this is what he wants, a mistrial. And that's it for this edition of Law and Crime Sidebar podcast. You can listen to and download Sidebar on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your podcasts. And of course, you can always watch it on Law and Crime. YouTube channel. I'm Ann Janette Levy, and we will see you next time.