FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward County Circuit Judge John Murphy sided with rapper Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons’s defense on a ruling announced on Thursday that was related to a change in the prosecution.
The defense for Demons, 24, asked Murphy to replace the lead prosecutor in the murder case citing the alleged coverup of a report that a Miramar detective had asked a Broward Sheriff’s Office colleague to lie about being present while serving a search warrant.
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Murphy granted the defense’s motion to recuse Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley because she had gone from working as a “zealous advocate for the state” to being “personally invested in the outcome of the case.”
Demons is awaiting his retrial for the murders of fellow YNW rappers Christopher “Juvy” Thomas Jr. and 21-year-old Anthony “SakChaser” Williams in 2021.
Murphy wrote the court did not “conclusively find” that Bradley’s “integrity and veracity as a prosecutor had been compromised,” but there was still a concern that Demons could “suffer actual prejudice” with her on the case.
Murphy declared a mistrial on July 22 prompting a retrial for the two murders on the early morning of Oct. 26, 2018, in Broward County.
Surveillance videos show Thomas, 19, and Williams, 21, got into a Jeep Compass with Demons at about 3:20 a.m., at the New Era Recording Studio at 805 NE 4 Ave., prosecutors said.
Fellow YNW rapper Cortland “Bortland” Henry was driving the Jeep when he arrived at about 4:35 a.m., at the Memorial Hospital Miramar, at 1701 SW 172 Ave., with Thomas and Williams dead, prosecutors said.
A grand jury indicted Demons on Feb. 7, 2019, and he surrendered to Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies on Feb. 13, 2019. He has been held without bond ever since.
Most recently, prosecutors accused the rapper of using his alleged Bloods gang connections in jail to circumvent his lack of access to a phone from jail to prevent his ex-girlfriend from testifying.
Demons is facing a witness tampering charge. If convicted of the murders, Demons could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of life in prison without parole.
There were still over 20 motions pending before jury selection could begin in the retrial.