FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A shooting reconstruction expert was testifying against Florida rapper YNW Melly on Wednesday in Broward County court. He said that his investigation showed two YNW Collective rappers were shot from inside the Jeep where they died.
Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley called Sgt. Christopher Williams to the stand during the trial to explain how he used the existing evidence to estimate the trajectory of the bullets fired in and out of a Jeep Compass.
Cortlen “Bortlen” Henry, who was driving the gray Jeep Compass, told a Miramar detective that they were the victims of a drive-by shooting on Oct. 26, 2018, in Broward County.
“My determination was that this was not a drive-by shooting,” Williams said.
Bradley accused Jamell “Melly” Demons of killing Christopher “Juvy” Thomas Jr., and Anthony “Sakchaser” Williams, and of staging a drive-by shooting with Henry’s help.
Sgt. Williams said Thomas, 21, was shot in the head, at close range on the face, from the left in the “middle of his cheek”— while he was facing forward.
“Part of the wound had an abrasion ring on it,” Sgt. Williams said about Thomas’s entrance wound. He also said the “tattoo of the stippling” was evidence of the same.
Earlier in the trial, the jury saw surveillance video showing Demons was in the left rear seat of the Jeep; Williams, 21, was in the front passenger seat; and Thomas was in the right rear seat.
The jury also listened to the medical examiners who performed the autopsy and concluded that both victims suffered fatal shots to the head that had entered from the left side.
Miramar detectives used cell phone data to identify a crime scene at the end of Pembroke Road, near U.S. Highway 27, east of the Florida Everglades.
This is where Bradley said Henry and Demons fired at the Jeep Compass and the dead victims in an attempt to stage a drive-by shooting. Sgt. Williams said one of the shots fired showed the Jeep was not moving.
A grand jury indicted Demons on Feb. 7, 2019, and he surrendered on Feb. 13, 2019. He and Henry, who is awaiting trial for the alleged coverup, pleaded not guilty.
Deputies have held Demons without bond for over four years. His defense alleged the case is the result of an opportunistic detective who spotted a high-profile case without DNA evidence or a weapon.
Demons is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if convicted of two counts of premeditated first-degree murder.
Demons grew up in Indian River County’s Gifford community and had an arrest record there and in Lee County, records show. He is in YouTube videos with the victims playing with what appears to be guns, cash, alcohol, and marijuana.
Demons became known as YNW Melly when he released his breakout song “Murder on My Mind” on SoundCloud and on YouTube in 2017. His golden single while later signed with 300 Entertainment made it onto the Billboard Hot 100.
YNW Melly partnered with Kanye West for “Mixed Personalities.” He released “Melly vs. Melvin,” his debut album, in 2019, and his second album “Just a Matter of Slime” — which features Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, and Lil Baby — in 2021.
This is a developing story. Court is in recess for lunch. The defense has yet to question Sgt. Williams.
Coverage of the trial