YNW Melly’s mother, Jamie King, has hired private security after an alleged threat coming from the sister of one of the murder victims, YNW Juvy.
On Tuesday, King turned up with a bodyguard after what Law & Crime reporter Terri Austin said was ‘tension’ in the courtroom due to threats against her. Members of the Sheriff’s department, along with the bodyguard, escorted King to and from the courtroom and the restroom, the reporter said.
The threats were allegedly made on social media and were brought to the court’s attention by Melly’s lawyer, Stuart Adelstein. Judge John J. Murphy also offered to get King more security if needed, but it was then decided that her bodyguard was sufficient.
The threats by Juvy’s sister come following cell phone evidence by a witness who revealed that the phone that cops removed texts and other tracking and location data had belonged to Melly and was registered to his mother.
During the testimony, videos and text messages were also shared from the phone, one in which the prosecution alleged that Melly asked his mother to buy him a gun a week before the murder.
The family of Juvy and Sakchaser has separately entertained the allegation that at the time of his friend’s death, the YNW Collective, in which they were all members, had struck a $500,000 deal, but an argument developed over the division of the funds and led to a brawl between Melly and Sakchaser.
Juvy’s father, Chris Thomas Sr., said that Melly was to receive $200,000, Sakchaser was to get $200,000, and his son Juvy $100,000.
“I’m hearing from Chris that they were going to sell the YNW brand. [It’s] not a record deal or nothing like that it was the brand itself and by them being the founding members they were going to get a piece of the pie. I don’t think Melly did it on his own, I think the manager guy got in his ear and did a little divide and conquer because if it was up to Sak, it never have been a $100k management,” he said.
“[Melly] didn’t want to give them guys nothing, he wanted to be the only one to shine,” Thomas Sr. said, adding that he was surprised that despite Melly being best friends with his son and Sakchaser since elementary school, he did not attend their funerals and he only gave the families $15,000 [Sakchaser] and $10,000 [Juvy] respectively.
In the meantime, the prosecution is on its final witness as they go through further the rapper’s phone and other messages and videos on it.
On Tuesday, Melly’s friend, Treveon Miliak Glass, told the jury that on the night of the murders, after he became aware of the killings of Juvy and Sakchaser, he noticed that Melly had been wearing “different clothes.”
Another witness, Detective Sgt. Christopher Williams also testified that the victims were shot at close range from inside the SUV and that Juvy had a burn mark on his face, supposedly from the muzzle of the gun.
“Part of the wound had an abrasion ring on it,” he said.
Under cross-examination, Williams was asked about why the evidence about the shots was submitted a little over a month before the trial, but the detective confirmed that he had at first been investigating what was claimed to be a drive-by by Melly’s co-accused YNW Bortlen. However, at some point, the detective said he realized that the evidence at the alleged crime scene and the position of the victims, and the lack of bullets or spent shells at the location changed the investigation.
In the meantime, Melly’s mother appeared in court again on Thursday with her bodyguard. The schoolteacher revealed last month that stress from the trial caused her to have a heart attack. Melly is facing the death penalty if convicted by the death-qualified jury.
