Following the news that YNW Melly could posiblly face the death penalty if convicted, the incarcerated rapper has shared a pair of messages in which he said he fears for his life.
“As of this moment today I am officially in fear of my life,” wrote the rapper alongside his mugshot. “A new Captain named Hubert and XO Jenkins have taken over the jail for two weeks now and have handed out even harsher punishments for me then the previous ones in place. Since December 1 I have been moved and housed on a unit that holds 24 inmates at once. I am the only inmate being housed on the vacant unit, with no phone privilege, no television and no access to a newspaper.”
Melly alleged that the jail he’s currently being held at—Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale, Florida—is surveilling him 24/7 and stopping him from publicly sharing how he is being treated. “When I come out of my cell for the 1 hour a day, all other inmates in the adjoining dorms must go back in there cell. I am being subjected to cruel and unusual treatment at the hands of deputies and high-ranking staff of the Broward Sheriffs Office,” he wrote.
He has accused Sergeant Anthony Kidd and Lieutenant Jean Baptiste, two employees of the Sheriff’s office, of threatening to “hide” him and “beat [his] ass.” He added that he currently believes “the next step is them beating [me] half to death like they do to other inmates almost daily.”
In his second post, he stressed how much he wishes to be moved to another jail as he awaits his trial on two charges of premeditated first-degree murder. “I cant call my family or lawyers to notify them if I have been beaten or harassed,” he continued. “I am housed and surrounded in the care of power struck deputies and captains of high authority that even have told me to my face that ‘they don’t like me’ and ‘I pissed them off.’ I am not safe in the hands of these people especially if the highest in command in the jail ‘doesn’t like me.’ I am in fear of my life. My family is in fear of my life. I can not do another day here. Someone please help me get moved to another county jail until my trial. PLEASE!”
Last month, Florida’s District Court of Appeal overruled Judge Andrew Siegel’s decision to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. Philip R. Horowitz, who is Melly’s attorney, said he and his client were “disappointed in the ruling” and were looking “forward to our opportunity to argue our position before the justices.”
Melly and Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry were arrested and charged in 2019 with two counts of first-degree murder each. They are accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. and 21-year-old Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams in October 2018 and staging the scene to look like a drive-by shooting.
