After YNW Melly detailed the alleged abuse he’s faced at Broward County Jail, the rapper’s mother has called for an investigation into his claims.
Speaking with TMZ, Melly’s mother, Jamie Demons-King, said the jail “definitely needs to be investigated,” and the people in charge have been “making up their own rules” in regards to the treatment of inmates.
“We’ve tried to go to court about this situation, [but] the judge doesn’t really have any jurisdiction when it comes to the jail,” she told TMZ. “We actually had a hearing about the mistreatment of him, and the jail kind of… they make their own rules and I don’t think that’s fair because I know that they need to answer to someone too.”
In a series of posts shared on his Instagram account on Monday, the “Murder On My Mind” rapper said that he fears for his life in the Fort Lauderdale jail. He alleged that he is being surveilled 24/7 and is being held in isolation, without any access to a phone, television, or even a newspaper. Melly accused two employees of the Broward Sheriff’s Office of targeting him with threats, and said he believes they could beat him “half to death like they do to other inmates almost daily.”
His mother stressed that Melly has “not been convicted of anything” yet, but even inmates who have been convicted “have the right to use a telephone” during their time behind bars. “They hold his mail, they don’t give it to him,” she continued. “It’s just not right. … It’s Christmas, and Christmas day is my birthday too, [and] I just want to hear my son’s voice. That’s like the bare minimum, I just want to hear his voice. I just want to hear that he’s okay.”She described his recent posts as “heartbreaking,” and said they made her feel “completely helpless.”
YNW Melly is currently behind bars awaiting trial on two charges of premeditated first-degree murder. Florida’s District Court of Appeal overruled Judge Andrew Siegel’s decision to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in his case last month.
Melly and his close collaborator Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry were arrested and charged in 2019 with two counts of first-degree murder each. They have been accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. and 21-year-old Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams in October 2018, and then staging the scene to look like a drive-by shooting.
