YNW Melly files lawsuit claiming ‘cruel’ treatment in jail ahead of retrial

Rapper YNW Melly is accusing the Broward Sheriff’s Office of cruel treatment behind bars in a new lawsuit and asking a Florida judge for his immediate release from prison. The 25-year-old rapper, whose real name is Jamell Demons, has been incarcerated since February 2019 after he was accused of murdering his two childhood friends Chris “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams, in 2018. His first double murder trial ended in a mistrial last summer. Melly’s retrial date is set for September 10, 2025. However, Melly’s attorney Michael Pizzi Jr. claims in a lawsuit that the rapper is being “illegally detained under conditions that violate the First, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution” at the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale. Jamell Demons, also known as rapper YNW Melly, waits in the courtroom for a question from the jury as they deliberate at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on July 22, 2023. Jamell Demons, also known as rapper YNW Melly, waits in the courtroom for a question from the jury as they deliberate at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on July 22, 2023. AP Photo The complaint claims Melly has...