Calculated cover-up or a botched investigation? Jury will decide in YNW Melly murder trial

The double murder trial of rapper YNW Melly, who came into the public eye in 2018 with his catchy hit “Murder on My Mind,” started Monday with the state laying out its case — and calling its first witnesses.

Now, Broward jurors are tasked with listening to weeks of testimony and ultimately deciding whether the Treasure Coast native’s lyrics played out in real life — and if he should get life or death, if convicted.

READ MORE: Life or death? Fate of ‘Murder on My Mind’ rapper rests with eight jurors, judge rules

Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of gunning down 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. Confidant Cortlen Henry, known as YNW Bortlen, was also arrested and charged with the murders.

The 24-year-old was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder in February 2019. His case is among the first being considered after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law to lower the threshold for a death sentence to an 8-4 vote.

A calculated cover-up?

During opening arguments Monday, prosecutor Kristine Bradley presented the state’s case against the rapper, focusing on video, ballistics and cellphone evidence that she said points to Melly shooting his friends inside the car and staging a drive-by.

Detectives, Bradley said, found a spent shell casing in the Jeep, which proves the gun was fired inside the car. They didn’t find any physical evidence in the area where Henry said the trio was shot at by unknown assailants.

“When you look at the details, the details [of what people say] don’t match up,” Bradley said. “Look at what the physical evidence shows.”

In November, a month after the murders, cellphone data led police to the crime scene — a waste facility on the edge of the Everglades, Bradley said. There, detectives found an additional eight .40 caliber shell casings.

At 4:02 a.m. the day of murders, Melly exited the Jeep Compass and shot at the car to stage the drive-by, Bradley claimed. By this point, Williams and Thomas were already dead.

Melly, Bradley said, then set up his story by FaceTiming his then-girlfriend and telling her he was shot at by another car. Shortly after, he asked a friend to pick him up, sending a pin to his location.

Prosecutors also allege that the murders were committed to “benefit, promote and further the interests of a criminal gang.” Bradley said the state will present messages that show Melly is affiliated with the G Shine Bloods set, but didn’t elaborate how the killings benefited the gang.

“This is not just in music videos,” Bradley said. “This is not just in lyrics. We’re not going to get into that because that’s artistic expression. That’s not why we’re here today.”

Among the slew of messages from concerned friends and fans alike, one sticks out to Bradley. In it, Melly was asked if he was “good.”

“I did that,” he responded, according to Bradley.

Or a botched investigation?

Facing the jury, defense attorney David Howard described the case against Melly as “riddled with reasonable doubt” and founded on an “incompetent, incomplete investigation.”

The state, after successfully seeking the death penalty, should have an air-tight case, Howard said, but they don’t even have a inkling as to a motive. He said they only have evidence from a phone, which multiple people used interchangeably.

“They have no reason for why he would do this because there is no reason,” Howard said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

The lead detective, Howard claimed, saw Melly on tape at the studio and learned he was a rising star. The detective got tunnel vision, imagining a star-studded case.

For Howard, other leads weren’t properly vetted or investigated. He pointed to Melly’s codefendant Henry, who lied about the shooting several times and had gunpowder residue on his hands. Police, Howard said, never searched Henry’s home.

Three days after the killings, a man and his sister mentioned “intimate details” about the murders in a recorded jail call. Police, Howard said, disregarded the lead after the man’s sister said she heard the details on the street.

Two men confessed to the murders on social media, Howard alleged, but detectives dismissed them after talking to them months later.

“These are all unanswered questions,” Howard said. “No investigation. Case closed. Let’s move on.”

According to Howard, a Broward Sheriff’s Office official even evaluated Miramar police’s detective work, called it “the worst thing I have seen in my life.”

“You’re not here looking for proof,” Howard told jurors. “You’re looking for doubt.”

What did police find?

In the early morning hours of Oct. 26, 2018, Henry rushed into Memorial Hospital Miramar’s emergency room, according to court records. He told medical staff that two men were shot inside his 2018 Jeep Compass.

A video played on Monday showed Henry heading into the hospital — and Miramar officers finding Williams, 21, in the front passenger seat with gunshot wounds to his head and torso and Thomas, 19, in the right rear passenger seat with gunshot wounds to the back and head.

Photos shown in court Monday captured the bloody aftermath of the murders, such as gunshot wounds and bullets protruding Thomas’ and Williams’ skin. A crime scene technician, while on the witness stand, displayed the victims’ clothing — including a black Stranger Things hoodie — on which bullet holes were clearly visible though sealed in a clear plastic.

Henry, in a recorded interview played Monday, recounted their whereabouts that night. He told police that the trio had left the New Era Recording Studio in Fort Lauderdale when a car pulled up next to them on Miramar Parkway and opened fire. Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers, went by YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy. Amid the gunfire, Henry lowered his body, he told police, to shield himself. He said he sped toward the nearest hospital the moment he knew his friends were struck by the spray of bullets.

Police scoured the area where Henry said the shooting took place, but didn’t turn up any evidence matching Henry’s account, prosecutors say. Surveillance video captured the three men — and Melly — hopping into the Jeep, with Melly sitting in the left rear passenger seat. That’s where police later uncovered a single .40 caliber shell casing tucked inside a white plastic bag, prosecutors say.

After looking at the blood inside the bullet-riddled Jeep, police began to suspect that Williams and Thomas were shot inside the SUV, according to court records. Cellphone data also placed Melly, Thomas and Williams together throughout the night.

Court records show investigators located evidence, including .40 caliber shell casings and glass matching the Jeep, on an isolated patch of Pembroke Road. Projectile analysis determined it to be unlikely for the barrage of bullets to have hit the SUV while in motion, according to court records. The autopsies suggested that the shots came from the left rear passenger side, where Melly was caught on tape sitting earlier that night.

Police believe that Henry and the rapper drove around with Williams’ and Thomas’ bodies for a while before entering the hospital. At some point, Melly got out of the Jeep.

After the slayings, fans and critics alike have dissected the lyrics of his best-known song “Murder on My Mind,” which features a grim retelling of an unintentional homicide over a blend of emotional piano riffs and hip-hop beats.

As rap lyrics have been used in hundreds of trials, many following the case have hypothesized that Melly’s lyrics, specifically those in “Murder on My Mind,” will be discussed during the trial. In court, rap songs are treated as confessions, proof of intent or threats, whether written before or after the crime, Erik Nielson, a professor at the University of Richmond, told Genius in 2016.

The trial will resume Tuesday and continue through all of June and July.