YNW Melly has been accused of planning to escape prison in a plot that also included his attorney.
The accusation was made during a court hearing on Tuesday (Sept. 27). Jamell “YNW Melly” Demons has remained locked up since his arrest in 2019. He is currently awaiting trial for first-degree murder charges. Prosecutors allege he murdered his friends Anthony Williams (a.k.a. YNW Sakchaser) and Christopher Thomas Jr. (a.k.a. YNW Juvy) in 2018.
This latest development comes just days after YNW Melly was accused of possessing shanks and pipe bombs. A fellow inmate claimed the rapper had them in his cell.
A statement shared by the Broward County Sheriff’s General Counsel’s Office with Complex on Thursday (Sept. 29), details the evidence they found in relation to the escape plot.
Attorney For YNW Melly Also Accused Of Aiding Escape
“On April 11, 2022, Broward Sheriff’s Office received a confidential tip regarding inmates Nicholas Lewis and Jamell Demons, both housed in the same unit at the Main Jail, planning an escape from jail by having Demons’ attorney bring in two handcuff keys to aid in the escape. Additional information provided by the source was that Lewis had a shank and drugs,” the statement reads.
Lewis’s cell was searched following a tip given to jail authorities by another inmate. During the search, they found a six-inch shank, two razor blades, two lighters, and rolling papers. They also found Seroquel and Klonopin pills, which he isn’t prescribed. YNW Mell’s cell was also searched, however, all they discovered was food from the commissary and “excessive jail-issued clothing.”
“The confidential source gave us two pieces of information,” said Christian Tsoubanos, Assistant General Counsel for the Broward Sheriff’s Office, during Tuesday’s hearing. “One of them [about the shank and drugs] turned out to be a hundred percent true. And when they did the search of Demons’ cell, they did not find the handcuff key, but it could have been that there was not an opportunity to bring it into the facility yet.”
Victim’s Mother Says Plot Suggests YNW Melly is Guilty
The lawyer representing YNW Juvy’s mother Leondra Phillips in her civil suit against Melly, said the escape plot points to the rapper’s guilt.
“As an attorney for a victim, we strongly feel any attempts to escape justice point to guilt,” John M. Phillips told Complex. “This matter needs to be fully investigated, including the attorney’s involvement. Certainly, there are times when informants and even government agents are wrong or engaging in misconduct, but we’ve seen so much in this case from rooftop stripper parties across to diamond teeth dentist needs, this is yet another chapter in what needs to just be finished in court.”