YNW Melly Murder Trial Day 14 – What We Learned

July 13, 2023 353 42 4

Two full weeks of testimony have now been delivered in the YNW Melly double-murder trial as day 14 of the highly publicized court case took place today.

Day 14 of the YMW Melly Double-Murder Trial

On Wednesday (July 12), Miramar Police Department lead detective Mark Moretti resumed his testimony with the prosecution, marking his third day on the witness stand. Det. Moretti initially took the stand earlier this week on Monday (July 10) and is expected to be the state’s final witness. Court began with YNW Melly’s defense team asking Judge John Murphy III to exclude messages regarding a gun being discussed between Melly and his mother after the murders. According to Local10.com, YNW Melly‘s defense attorney David Howard accused the prosecution of presenting “inadmissible” evidence to the jury because of a lack of authentication.

Texts Between YNW Melly and His Mother Are Read for Jury

During the morning session, a text conversation between YNW Melly and his mother, Jamie King, were presented in court. The published text exchange spanned through late 2018. It was read out aloud to the jury by Det. Moretti and prosecutor Camille Smith, in place of prosecutor Kristine Bradley. Law & Crime correspondent Bryson Paul reports that the conversation identifies “Youngsakchaser Howard” as YNW Melly and “Brazy Lady” as his mother.

YNW Melly’s Defense Team Pushes for Mistrial

At 11 a.m. YNW Melly’s attorney David Howard moved for a mistrial after the texts were admitted into evidence. The defense claimed that some of the text messages are negatively characterizing YNW Melly, after disagreements with his mother were exposed.

“We ask that the court put a stop to this,” Howard said.

The motion was denied by Judge Murphy. Later on in the day, YNW Melly’s defense objected to the presentation of more text messages.

“He’s calling her the b-word and all sorts of manner of disrespect,” Howard said. “Mothers sitting on the jury are now tainted in their impression of him.”

The objection was overruled.

The trial adjourned at 11:35 a.m. for a lunch recess and briefly resumed around 1:26 p.m. However, right before 1:30 p.m., day 14 was unexpectedly adjourned after one of YNW Melly’s defense attorneys, Raven Liberty, became ill and was not able to proceed. The judge then decided to cancel the remainder of the trial for the week. Day 15 is scheduled to resume on Monday (July 17).

YNW Melly, born Jamell Demons, is on trial for double-murder and accused of fatally shooting his friends Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams in October of 2018. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.