YNW Melly Stays Locked Up While Judge Defers Bond Ruling

YNW Melly still doesn’t know if he’s walking out of Broward County jail before his murder trial kicks off next year.

Judge Martin S. Fein sat through arguments on April 30 about whether the Gifford rapper should be released on bond while he waits for his January 2027 retrial.

Instead of ruling either way, the judge deferred the matter. That means no decision yet, and nobody’s saying when one’s actually coming.

Melly’s been locked up since February 2019 on two first-degree murder charges connected to the October 2018 deaths of his YNW collective members Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams and Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr.

His legal team argued that bringing up gang ties would unfairly prejudice the jury, but the state pushed back hard, saying the evidence is directly connected to motive and intent.

The bigger picture here is that Melly’s already been through one trial that went nowhere.

Back in July 2023, the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict after three days of deliberations, forcing a mistrial.

Now he’s facing the same charges all over again with the same potential consequences.

If convicted, he’s looking at either life without parole or the death penalty, and prosecutors made it clear back in 2019 they’re going for execution.

His co-defendant, Cortlen “YNW Bortlen” Henry, already accepted a plea deal in September 2025 and received a 10-year prison sentence, so he won’t be at trial to face Melly.

That leaves the state’s case depending heavily on other evidence and testimony.

The defense tried to block prosecutors from using Henry’s statements against Melly, but the court is still sorting through all these motions.