YNW Melly’s witness tampering case is scheduled to go to trial in a few weeks.
The Florida rapper appeared at the Broward County Courthouse for a motion hearing on Monday (January 5). According to South Florida news outlet NBC 6, during Monday’s hearing, both sides filed motions on what should be included in the rapper’s witness tampering trial.
Melley has been behind bars since 2019 in a double murder case, with additional witness tampering charges filed in 2023 after the first trial ended in a mistrial. The witness tampering trial is scheduled to begin on January 21, while the double murder retrial has been postponed several times and is currently scheduled for 2027.
Melly is accused of killing his childhood friends Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams in October 2018 and making them look like drive-by victims. In October 2023, prosecutors charged Melly with witness tampering, claiming Melly dissuaded his ex-girlfriend Maria Hamilton and her mother Felicia Holmes from testifying in the first trial.
YNW Melly will have new representation for the upcoming trial. Last September, he added attorneys Drew Findling and Carey Haughwout to his legal team. Mellie requested a new attorney last August. He cited the fact that his former lawyer, Raven Liberty, was under investigation for alleged witness tampering.
Mellie’s co-defendant in both cases, YNW Bortlen, accepted a plea deal last September and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and six years of supervised release.
