YNW Melly’s double murder retrial has received a new start date following a brief delay and last month’s mistrial.
According to court reporter Bryson “Boom” Paul, Judge John J. Murphy III acquiesced to Melly’s attorney Stuart Adelstein’s request on Friday (August 4) to have the new trial date pushed back from October 2 to October 9.
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“@YNWMelly’s [lawyer] Stuart Adelstein requests to move the trial start date from October 2 to October 9,” Paul wrote on Twitter. “He reassures it is within the 90 days speedy trial period. Judge Murphy III allows. The new trial date is October 9.”
Law&Crime‘s Cathy Russon added that Adelstein requested to delay the trial by a week due to him going on vacation.
No mention of bond was made during Friday’s hearing, but Melly (real name Jamell Maurice Demons) was seen grinning and mouthing the words, “I’m coming home” to family in the gallery as he left the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit and shackles.
YNW Melly is being retried for the October 2018 double murder of his friends YNW Sakchaser (Anthony Williams) and YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.) after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in last month’s trial.
Judge Murphy III announced on July 22 that the case had ended in a mistrial, despite three days of deliberation. “These types of decisions, they’re hard decisions,” he said regarding the inconclusive finale.
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The first-degree murder charges took four and a half years to process through the legal system.
Melly was arrested back in 2019 for allegedly shooting and killing his associates months earlier. The state accused the “Murder On My Mind” rapper of gunning down the two men and subsequently staging a drive-by shooting in an attempt to cover it up.
Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley said: “Anthony Williams was shot in the back of the head. That was planned for when he was sleeping so that he couldn’t fight back. That was a premeditated planned killing of Williams, where there would be an alibi already discussed.”
While it’s unclear what went down in the deliberating room, one former juror told Local 10 News that one “manipulative” woman convinced two other jurors to deem Melly not guilty, resulting in the 9-3 mistrial.
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“From day one, she had issues with the foreperson selected, at one point crossing her arms and saying she was ‘Done!’ When another juror asked to not shut down and set her feelings aside, she exploded,” the anonymous juror claimed in an interview with the outlet.
“She was explosive, manipulative, she was rude, she yelled insults at anyone who had a different opinion…She was there to cause chaos.”
