Judge Declares A Mistrial In YNW Melly's Double Murder Trial

The judge presiding over YNW Melly's double murder trial declared a mistrial after the jury couldn't come up with a verdict.

On Saturday, July 22, Judge John Murphy was forced to make the ruling after the jury was deadlocked on a decision about Melly's fate. The rapper, born Jamell Demons, had been on trial for 19 days after he was charged with allegedly murdering his two friends Anthony "YNW SakChaser" and Christopher "YNW Juvy" Thomas. After closing arguments were held last Thursday, the jury took two days to deliberate. Despite reviewing some of the evidence again, the jury couldn't make a unanimous decision.

When the trial began last month, prosecutors declared their intention to prove that Melly fatally shot his two friends while inside a vehicle and recruited his friend Cortlen "YNW Bortlen" Henry to help him make it look like a drive-by shooting. The state started off by providing video footage of Henry driving the victims to a hospital on the night of the shooting as well as surveillance video of the studio they all were at right before the murders occurred.

Following more evidence and witness testimony, prosecutors argued that Melly called fellow rapper Fredo Bang and asked him to pick him up from near the crime scene and take him back to Bang's house. Witnesses testified that they saw Melly crying at Bang's home while wearing different clothes.

The state also presented damning text messages including a series of intense messages from the victim Anthony "YNW Sakchaser" Williams to Melly that appeared to establish a motive. They also presented one text from Melly himself that said "I did that shh." Meanwhile, the defense did well to identify the reasonable doubt that surrounded Melly's case.

The state and defense will meet next week to discuss the next steps in the case.