Editor's note: On April 18,prosecutors stated their intent to seek the death penalty against YNW Melly, citing several aggravating factors.
More:Prosecutors seeking death penalty against rap artist YNW Melly in double murder case
Court documents recently made public in the double murder case against popular hip-hop artist YNW Melly detail how Miramar police said the rapper staged the deaths of two associates to look like a drive-by shooting.
Melly, real name Jamell Demons, 19, of Gifford, along withassociateCortlen Henry, 19, of Vero Beach, were indicted by a grand jury Feb. 7 forthe October shooting deaths of 21-year-old Anthony Williams and 19-year-old Christopher Thomas Jr in Miramar.
The four men grew up togetherand were members of the same hip-hop group. Williams, of Gifford,was known by the stage name YNW Sakchaser, and Thomas, of Fort Pierce, by the name YNW Juvy. Henry was known as YNW Bortlen.
More:Treasure Coast rappers YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser shot and killed in South Florida
More:Grand jury indictment: YNW Melly fired the gun, killing the friends he grew up with
About 4:35 a.m. Oct. 26, Henry pulled intoMemorial Hospital Miramar with the bodies of Williams and Thomas in the passenger seats of a bullet-riddled Jeep Compass.
He originally told police the two were killed by unknown assailants in a drive-by shooting,but police later said Henry and Demons had orchestrated the killings, with Demons pulling the trigger and Henry assisting acover-up.
Arrest records filed with the Broward County court Feb. 14 detail a variety of evidence supporting the allegations. Among the investigators' claims:
- Police found no evidence of shotsfired in the location Henry said the shooting occurred.There were no reports of gunshots in the area.
- Cell phone records and surveillance video showed anassociate had givenfalse information about Demons' whereabouts before the shooting.
- Cell phone records and surveillance video showed the path taken to the hospital contradicted Henry's testimony.
- Forensic evidence at the actual crime scene, determined by cell phone records and K-9 search, showed no other vehicles were present at the time of the shooting.
- A trajectory analysis on the vehicle showed the paths of the bullets (right to left) did not match the victims' wounds (left to right).
Also detailed was evidence investigators said directly implicated Demons as the shooter:
A shell casing from a .40 caliber handgun that matched casings found at the crime scene was discovered on the floorboard of the left rear passenger seat in the vehicle, where video evidence showed Demons had been sitting.
"This supports the evidence that the victims were shot inside the car first and the projectile holes on the exterior were later staged," investigators said in a case report.
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Evidence from an autopsy also showed the shot that killed Williams, who had been sitting in the front right passenger seat, had come from behind and to the left and was firedfrom less than three feet away.
Investigators said evidence showed Henry and Demons haddriven around for a period of time with the two dead victims in the vehicle "prior to entering the hospital" in "a calculated effort to establish their version of the incident(.)"
Henry was arrested in Texas and extradited to Broward County on Feb. 12. Demons turned himself in toofficials in Broward County late Feb. 13.
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Bothwere charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Henry also was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact. The charges carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The motive for the shooting is still not known.
Demons was seen as a rising star in the Florida rap scene. He has more than a million social media followers, and his most famous song,"Murder on my Mind,"has more than 88million views on YouTube. The track was certified gold by theRecording Industry Association of America.
Demonsreleased asong with Kanye Westin January that has 17 million views on YouTube.
TCPalm breaking news reporter Mary Helen Moore contributed to this report.
Contact Rogers at 772-978-2224 or eric.rogers@tcpalm.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricRogersFT.
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