Why is YNW Melly on trial? Rapper faces double murder charge after being accused of shooting dead two friends in 2018

• YNW Melly is on trial for allegedly murdering two of his friends in October 2018
• If found guilty, the rapper could face the death penalty or life in jail
• Find out the rest about the rapper and this case below

Florida rapper YNW Melly is on trial for allegedly murdering two of his friends in October 2018.

The 24-year-old, who has collaborated with Kanye West, was arrested in 2019, but his trial only began in June 2023.

If found guilty, the rapper could face the death penalty.

Read on to find out what else there is to know about this case.

YNW Melly, real-name Jamell Maurice Demons, was born in 1999 and grew up in Florida, where he remained based for his professional career.

Aged 15, he started posting songs on Soundcloud, which is where he initially posted his breakthrough single Murder on My Mind in 2017.

The song garnered most attention after Demons became linked with the double murder for which he is now on trial, and peaked at number 14 in the Billboard Hot 100.

He subsequently collaborated with Kanye West and Juice Wrld, and released an album Melly vs Melvin in November 2019, nine months after his arrest.

The rapper had previously been arrested in 2015 for shooting at a group of students near a school, for which he was convicted of aggravated battery, discharging a firearm in public, and two counts of aggravated assault, seeing him serve several months in prison.

He is also a suspect in the murder of a sheriff’s deputy in Gifford, Florida, in 2017.

What is Melly accused of?

Demons was charged with premeditated first-degree murder on two counts on 13 February 2019, after reportedly turning himself in.

The relevant incident involved the deaths of Anthony Williams, 21, and Christopher Thomas Jr, 19 in October 2018.

The deceased were described as close friends and associates of the rapper, going by YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy respectively.

Authorities suggest that Demons conspired with fellow YNW rapper Cortlen Henry, also known as YNW Bortlen, to stage the double-murder, and make it appear as if they were fatally injured in a drive-by shooting.

Henry allegedly drove the victims to the hospital, in the car which he claimed they had been shot in, where they arrived dead.

However, police found no evidence of the killings being from a drive-by, seeing footage of the four men leaving a recording studio together.

Prosecutors have also claimed that phone data, blood spatter evidence, and a bullet casing in the car indicate the four were together for the crime and that the victims were shot dead from inside the car, specifically where Demons was believed to have been sitting.

How would YNW Melly be punished?

If found guilty of first-degree murder, Demons could face the death penalty.

Florida has the lowest threshold for juries recommending this punishment after governor, presidential candidate for the Republican Party, Ron DeSantis made an 8-4 split legally sufficient.

Alternatively the rapper, if found guilty, could face life imprisonment without the chance of parole.