YNW Melly associate found guilty in 2017 Lighthouse Point murder

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Miami man accused of helping rapper YNW Melly tamper with witnesses in his murder trial was found guilty Tuesday of committing an unrelated murder a year earlier.

Terrence Mathis, 40, was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2017 shooting death of liquor store owner Karl Wolfer in a botched robbery outside the victim’s Lighthouse Point home. Defense lawyers tried to suggest other possible culprits, including the defendant’s brother, but with their verdict jurors agreed with prosecutors who identified Mathis as the shooter.

Mathis is entitled to a pre-sentencing investigation that Broward Circuit Judge Bernard Bober can consider when Mathis is sentenced on June 7, but with the defendant’s prior criminal record, a life sentence is mandatory.

Last year Mathis was one of three men charged with witness tampering in the case of Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons, a rising rap star accused of killing two childhood friends after a recording session in 2018. Prosecutors say Mathis acted as a go-between for Demons and his friend Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry to send messages to Demons’ girlfriend. The messages were aimed at preventing the young woman and her mother from cooperating with the police investigation into Demons’ case.

Henry, also charged with tampering and murder, was the driver who pulled up to Memorial Hospital Miramar early on Oct. 26, 2018 with Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams shot to death in his Jeep. Prosecutors believe Demons was the gunman and he tried to cover up the crime with Henry by making it look like a drive-by shooting.

Demons’ first trial last year ended in a hung jury. His retrial has not been scheduled.

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