Did phone belong to YNW Melly? What the lead detective in his double murder case said
The YNW Melly double murder trial continued Tuesday with Miramar Police Detective Mark Moretti delivering blows to the defense’s theory that a phone involved in the case didn’t belong to the rapper.
The state will rest its case after Moretti’s testimony, clearing the way for the defense to present its own witnesses in Broward Circuit Court as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
Melly, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of shooting his childhood friends Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. in an alleged drive-by cover-up after spending the night of Oct. 26, 2018, at a Fort Lauderdale recording studio. Williams and Thomas, both aspiring rappers with the YNW collective, were known as YNW Sakchaser and YNW Juvy, respectively.
The 24-year-old’s case is among the first being considered after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law to lower the threshold for a death sentence to an 8-4 vote.
Settling the phone dispute?
Prosecutor Kristine Bradley played snippets of a six-minute jail house call between Melly and his mother, in which he instructs her to retrieve a number for his manager Track from his phone.
Throughout the trial, the defense has argued that the phone didn’t belong to Melly, that it was a communal phone used by all in the home he and his friends shared.
On the stand, Moretti said that in 2019 he met with Track, whose real name is Jameson Francois, at the Broward State Attorney’s Office to retrieve Melly’s phone. A pass code mentioned during the call between Melly and his mother successfully unlocked the device.
Bradley also displayed Instagram messages from Melly’s official account in court on Tuesday. In many of the exchanges, the rapper sent the number that the state has been trying to prove belonged to him.
“7727139807 same n**** same number,” Melly said in one of the DMs.
The state also cast more doubt on the defense’s theory, showing videos of Melly found on the phone. Several of the clips including rap music in the background. Moretti said they were extracted by using a digital forensic tool.
“By us taking the data, downloading it, [it] authenticates everything,” Moretti said.
Defense attorney Stuart Adelstein objected to Moretti’s cellphone record-related testimony, again pointing out that the state previously brought FBI agent Brendan Collins to the witness stand because Moretti wasn’t an expert in the subject.
“They have not authenticated one of these messages,” Adelstein said. “They know it. He’s not qualified to do that... The state is leading you astray on this because they have not authenticated one message.”
Judge John Murphy, however, allowed Moretti to continue testifying on the topic. While analyzing messages in the phone dump, the detective read out a few.
“Aye bro I love ya to death u brotha 4 life,” one of the texts from Melly to Williams read. “I’ll never say I’ll kill you or harm you if u need anything just hml...”
“I’m good it jus sum be tellin me y’all up to sum,” Williams responded. “u don’t owe me nun we is the same person...”
Moretti said he also executed a geo-fence warrant, which casts a virtual fence around a location, for the crime scene. This technique, used to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, works via location tracking by apps like Gmail or Google Maps.
However, no devices appeared at the location. Melly’s booking Gmail account, Moretti said, had turned off its location services.
Other leads investigated
During opening arguments, defense attorney David Howard accused Moretti of not properly vetting or investigating other leads.
Howard said that three days after the killings, a man and his sister mentioned “intimate details” about the murders in a recorded jail call. Police, Howard said, disregarded the lead after the man’s sister said she heard the details on the street.
Two men also confessed to the murders on social media, Howard alleged, but detectives dismissed them after talking to them months later.
Moretti testified that the two men behind the social media accounts didn’t have any location data tying them to Miramar or to the murders. The jailed man was being held at the Indian River County Jail at the time of the murders, Moretti said, confirming that he spoke with the man’s sister.
Documentary raised eyebrows
Moretti also mentioned a documentary the YNW collective released about Melly’s rise to fame. Bradley played a shortened version in court.
In the 21-minute film, Melly shares his background story growing up in Gifford, a small community on the Treasure Coast. He’s sitting around and smoking with friends, including Thomas and Williams, as they reminisce about their past admiration for Chris Brown.
The documentary, however, also touched on Melly’s interest in guns and the cutthroat nature of the industry. One of Thomas’ messages echoed an ominous sentiment:
“Make you not know who to trust, you know what I’m saying?”
The video ends with Thomas’ voice as Melly faces the splashing ocean. Then, white text appears on the screen: “Four days after the completion of this film, YNW Melly and his friends were targets of a drive-by shooting in Miami, Florida,” a statement that the state has argued links the rapper to the scene.
The state is expected to wrap up its case when court reconvenes Wednesday at 9 a.m.
