Mistrial Declared After Jury Deadlocked in YNW Melly Double Murder Trial

As the jurors walked into the courtroom, YNW Melly stood stone faced, a far contrast from how the rapper has acted throughout his double murder trial. There was no verdict. The rapper stifled a smile. The jury, after three days of deliberation, couldn’t come to a final decision Saturday on Melly’s two first-degree murder charges. “We are still unable to reach a unanimous decision,” the jury wrote to Broward Circuit Court Judge John Murphy.

Murphy declared a mistrial as the jury confirmed it was in deadlock. On Friday, the second day of deliberations, the jury said it wanted to know what the options were if it couldn’t come to a decision. Murphy brought the jury back into the courtroom and read them the Allen charge, a set of instructions given to a jury that believe it’s deadlocked. The charge urges jurors to continue deliberating before coming to a conclusion. “We appreciate the fact you were here and ready to serve,” Murphy told the jurors. Melly’s family exited the courthouse solemnly after hearing the decision and did not want to comment on the mistrial.

Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of shooting to death his childhood friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in an alleged drive-by cover-up after spending the night of Oct. 26, 2018, at a Fort Lauderdale recording studio. Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers with the YNW collective, were known as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy, respectively. The 24-year-old’s case is among the first being considered after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law to lower the threshold for a death sentence to an 8-4 jury vote, from a unanimous vote.