YNW Melly is suspected of planning with one of his lawyers to organize an escape from jail.
During a court hearing on Tuesday, a Florida Sheriff's Office made the claim (September 27). YNW Melly, real name Jamell Demons, has been jailed in Broward County, Florida, for three years after being arrested for the alleged murder of two of his buddies, Christopher "YNW Juvy" Thomas Jr. and Anthony "YNW Sakchaser" Williams.
On Thursday (September 29), the Broward County Sheriff's General Counsel's Office sent a statement to Complex outlining the evidence they discovered to support their claim.
"On April 11, 2022, the Broward Sheriff's Office got a confidential report about convicts Nicholas Lewis and Jamell Demons, who were both incarcerated in the same unit at the Main Jail and were preparing an escape by having Demons' attorney bring in two handcuff keys to help in the breakout." The individual also mentioned Lewis having a shank and drugs," according to the statement.
Jail officials had gotten the information from another inmate and had searched Lewis' cell as a result. Inside, they located a six-inch shank, two razor blades, two lighters, rolling papers, and unprescribed Seroquel and Klonopin medications. Melly's cell was also inspected, but the only things found were commissary food and "extra jail-issued apparel."
The allegations came just days after Melly was accused of keeping "shanks" and a "pipe bomb" in his detention cell.
During Tuesday's hearing, Christian Tsoubanos, Assistant General Counsel for the Broward Sheriff's Office, stated: “The confidential source gave us two pieces of information, One of them [about the shank and drugs] turned out to be a hundred percent true. And when they did the search of Demons’ cell, they did not find the handcuff key, but it could have been that there was not an opportunity to bring it into the facility yet.”
Leondra Phillips, the mom of murder victim YNW Juvy, told Complex that the scheme proved Melly is guilty.
"As an attorney for a victim, we strongly feel any attempt to escape justice point to guilt," Phillips informed the magazine. "This matter needs to be fully investigated, including the involvement of the attorney."
She adds, “Certainly, there are times when informants and even government agents are wrong or engaging in misconduct, but we’ve seen so much in this case from rooftop stripper parties across to diamond teeth dentist needs, this is yet another chapter in what needs to just be finished in court.”
The trial of YNW has been rescheduled multiple times. Jury selection was meant to begin on April 4, but it has been postponed again, with no start date on the calendar. Both parties have continued to debate the framework of evidence used in court, although Melly gained an early legal triumph in July when a judge determined that the death penalty may be dropped.
However, the judges also permitted prosecutors to submit Melly's multiple tattoos as evidence, claiming they "prove that one of the reasons behind this murder was a gang affiliation."