Florida prosecutors have suddenly dropped charges against rapper YNW Melly on the eve of his high-profile double murder retrial. The Broward County State Attorney's office has dismissed all four counts: witness tampering, directing a criminal gang's activities, soliciting to commit murder, and conspiracy to tamper with a witness in a capital case.
The move comes as no surprise, given that prosecutors had yet to establish the alleged crimes of Melly, 26, who faces life imprisonment if convicted. The rapper was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly shooting his friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. on October 26, 2018. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, which ended in a hung jury.
The witnesses tampering charge against Melly now seems to be an afterthought, as prosecutors fail to prove their case. It's clear that they were struggling to find evidence of any wrongdoing by Melly. The dismissal of these charges means that he may finally be able to go free from custody, where he has been held for over 2,200 days.
Melly's lawyers claim that the state's decision is a vindication of their client's innocence and welcome the dismissal of the tampering and gang-related charges. However, it remains to be seen whether Melly will now face any additional consequences or if his freedom is guaranteed. With the retrial just around the corner, it's clear that this drama is far from over.
The double murder case has been a sensationalized media event for years, with prosecutors' efforts and failures being constantly scrutinized by the public. The trial's latest date marks eight long years since Melly was first arrested in connection with the case.
The move comes as no surprise, given that prosecutors had yet to establish the alleged crimes of Melly, 26, who faces life imprisonment if convicted. The rapper was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly shooting his friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. on October 26, 2018. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, which ended in a hung jury.
The witnesses tampering charge against Melly now seems to be an afterthought, as prosecutors fail to prove their case. It's clear that they were struggling to find evidence of any wrongdoing by Melly. The dismissal of these charges means that he may finally be able to go free from custody, where he has been held for over 2,200 days.
Melly's lawyers claim that the state's decision is a vindication of their client's innocence and welcome the dismissal of the tampering and gang-related charges. However, it remains to be seen whether Melly will now face any additional consequences or if his freedom is guaranteed. With the retrial just around the corner, it's clear that this drama is far from over.
The double murder case has been a sensationalized media event for years, with prosecutors' efforts and failures being constantly scrutinized by the public. The trial's latest date marks eight long years since Melly was first arrested in connection with the case.
i feel bad for ynw melly, 2k days in custody is way too long... i think this decision was a good one tho, prosecutors were struggling to prove his guilt and it's clear they didn't have enough evidence. it's like the state was trying to pin something on him that wasn't really there. 
now we just gotta wait and see if melly will finally get his freedom or if there are more charges coming... i hope not tho! 
. It's clear that prosecutors were struggling to find evidence, and now they're just trying to cover their own backsides 
. I don't think this vindicates Melly at all; it just shows how weak the prosecution's case was 
. Still, it's gotta be good for his mental health to finally have some peace of mind after being in custody for so long 
. Now we'll just have to wait and see what happens next... will he still face charges or get a free pass? 
I'm not surprised at all about YNW Melly getting his charges dropped! The whole thing has been super sketchy from the start 
. It's like they knew they were in a losing battle all along 
.
, but we know he's still got his freedom on the line 
. With this retrial coming up, it's gonna be a wild ride 
. I'm keeping my eye on this one – will Melly get to walk free or will the state finally put him behind bars? We'll just have to wait and see 
his lawyers are gonna be so hyped right now 
and honestly i feel like justice might finally have been served on this one... the way it was going down, it seemed super fishy from the start 
but i guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next 
. YNW Melly has been locked up for far too long, and it's ridiculous that he was facing life imprisonment over alleged crimes that were never proven 
. Now we'll just have to wait and see what happens next... or if Melly will finally get his freedom 
. he's been locked up for nearly 6 years just waiting for a trial that never seems to happen. it's all so frustrating 
. i hope the retrial actually happens now, not like this. where is the accountability? 
. I mean, YNW Melly has been saying he's innocent from day one and if you don't have a solid case against him, why keep going? The prosecution must've realized they just weren't gonna get that 1st degree murder conviction out of him no matter what 
.
. The fact that they struggled to find any real evidence against Melly is just embarrassing for the prosecution side of things. Now, it's up to them to decide what's next - more charges or finally give him a break? I'd say he deserves one 
it's crazy cuz his lawyers are all happy about it but i feel like we still need to see what's gonna happen next... is he gonna be free or r u gonna have to go back 2 trial? 
I swear, it's life changing! The way they use fresh pineapple and spices... *distracted* Oh wait, what was I saying? Ah yeah, YNW Melly's case. So crazy how he's been stuck in custody for 2k+ days over a trial that ended with a hung jury 
(but only if this drama isn't coming back to haunt him)
. But at the same time, it's possible that Melly's lawyers really did crack the code on their client's innocence 
. Either way, I'm curious to see what happens next – is Melly finally gonna walk free after all these years? 
), but it's clear the prosecutors were struggling to find any evidence. Now Melly gets a second chance, and I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he'll be able to "rake in" the freedom 
. Anyway, this whole thing is just too crazy for words... I mean, who needs TV when you've got real-life drama like this? 
anyway, i've been listening to ynw melly's music on the bus ride to work the other day, and his flow is actually pretty sick 
but what really got me thinking was how he's been in this situation for so long. it's like, where do you even go from here? does he get a second chance or is there still more drama brewing? 