Details are beginning to emerge in the case against YNW Melly, the 19-year-old rapper suspected of killing two of his friends in South Florida.
According to court documents filed in Broward County, investigators allege Melly fatally shot Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. four months ago, and then staged the crime scene to look like a drive-by shooting. Melly's associate Cortlen "YNW Bortlen" is accused of assisting the cover-up.
On Oct. 26, 2018, Bortlen reportedly drove the victims to an emergency room in Miramar after they sustained multiple gun shot wounds. Williams and Thomas were pronounced dead upon arrival. Bortlen told authorities he was in a vehicle with the victims when another car pulled up next to them and opened fire, suggesting Williams and Thomas were killed in a random shooting; however, authorities have detailed new evidence that suggests Melly was the actual triggerman.
Investigators say an autopsy report shows the initial lethal shots were fired from within the vehicle Williams and Thomas were in, and were "initiated from the left rear passenger side," which was occupied by Melly.
Per court documents:
Evidence from the autopsy revealed that both victims’ wound paths to their heads were from a left to right direction. This directly contradicts the statements made by Henry and do not support the statements of a drive-by shooting that occurred on the right side of the vehicle.
Investigators reviewed camera footage as well as phone records that contradict Henry's account of the night. Data obtained from the suspects' phone providers indicates they were together at the time of the shooting and had drove around for a while with the dead victims in the car before Henry arrived at the hospital. "This was a calculated effort to establish their own version of the incident in an attempt tp deceive law enforcement," court documents read.
The State of Florida also highlighted suspicious Snapchat messages Melly had sent to his girlfriend two weeks after the shooting: "Dis nigga saved my life he coming everywhere wit me cuz of dem crackers come grab him it's my fault u forgot?" he wrote, referring to Henry. "I keep Bortlen wit me kuz at da end of the day he did one of a realist shit in my life."
Bortlen and Melly-—legal name Jamell Maurice Demons—were arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder last week. Melly is now awaiting trial without bond at Broward County jail.
