The father of Chris Thomas, one of the two victims in the YNW Melly murder trial, said in an interview with Law&Crime’s Sidebar podcast that he wants the rapper executed for the murder of his son.
“It’s an eye for an eye.” The Old Testament. “I think he deserves it,” said Chris Thomas Sr., the teenage rapper YNW Juvy’s father.
Juvy and Anthony Williams, also known as YNW Sakchaser, were killed in an SUV in the early hours of Oct. 26, 2018. Cortlen Henry, also known as YNW Bortlen, the SUV driver, drove the men’s bodies to an emergency room in Miramar, Florida. When they arrived, Juvy and Sakchaser were both dead.
Jamell Demons, also known as YNW Melly, was not in the SUV. However, surveillance footage apparently shows him leaving a recording studio in the SUV with the three other YNW members just before the incident.
After a months-long investigation, Melly and Bortlen were arrested in April 2019. Prosecutors stated that the stories presented by the two guys did not match. According to Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley, Melly fired shots into the SUV after Juvy and Sakchaser were dead to make it appear like a drive-by shooting.
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The trial in Broward County, Florida, is in its first week. Chris Thomas remembers his son as a good kid with huge goals, so this has been a long time coming. He said that his son, Sakchaser, and Melly were childhood buddies. They began rapping in 2013.
Thomas stated that he has known Melly since his birth in 1999 and considers Melly’s mother, Jamie King, to be a friend. After Juvy and Sakchaser were slain, their friendship came to an end.
Thomas’s daughter, Chloe, was Juvy’s sister and is also Cortlen’s sister, which makes the loss of his son and the trial much more traumatic. Thomas stated that Chloe and Cortlen had the same mother, and Chloe believes Melly is innocent. This has caused a schism between father and daughter. Thomas feels as if he’s lost two children because they haven’t spoken in over two years.
“They’ve simply brainwashed her with money.” “They’re showering her with gifts… she wishes her brother’s killer was free,” Thomas added. He went on to say, “That’s a heartbreaking feeling.”
The defense has questioned why Melly would choose to murder his “best friends.” Bradley told the jury that Melly was learning the loyalty oath for the G-Shine Blood Set, a gang when Juvy and Sakchaser were slain. Chris Thomas believes the murders were motivated by money.
“It’s an insult to me to hear him call them boys his best friends,” Thomas remarked.
In his opening comments, defense attorney David Howard claimed that Miramar police “botched” the double homicide investigation. Thomas does not believe it.
“I don’t think it was a mistake.” They did an excellent job, and everything will come together in the end. “He’s just trying to get the jury to think,” Thomas explained.
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