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YNW Melly wants to be released from jail after he accused the Broward Sheriff's Office of "cruel treatment" during his three-year stint behind bars.
The artist, born Jamell Demons, recently filed a lawsuit against Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony and the Broward County Sheriff's Office for allegedly keeping him "illegally detained under conditions that violate the First, Fifth, Sixth, Eight and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution." On Monday morning, November 4, the imprisoned rapper's attorney Michael Pizzi Jr. held a news conference with his client's mother, Jamie King, and his brother, Brandon "YNW Bslime" King, in which they spoke about the lawsuit.
“They're trying to break him down and get a result that they cannot get in the court system," Pizzi said. "They are trying to wear him down mentally by not letting him even talk or visit with his mother or his brother."
“Somedays I don’t know if he is alive in there. I don’t know if something happened to him in there," Demons' mom said. “Jamell, if you watch this today, I just want you to know that I love you. I'm going to continue fighting for you and I just want to know that you're okay. I just want to hear your voice and see your face. And, I'm going to get you home.”
Melly has been locked up since February 2019 after he was arrested and charged with the murder of his two friends, Chris “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams. Prosecutors argued that shot and killed both men and made the incident look like a drive-by shooting. His first trial ended in a mistrial last summer after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision. A judge ordered a second trial, but the proceedings were delayed until this summer. A judge finally scheduled a new trial date for September 10, 2025, and a pre-trial hearing for a separate case of alleged tampering.
In the lawsuit, Demons accused the Broward Detention authorities of keeping him away from his family in "debilitating isolation." He claimed that he hadn't spoken to his family in years and experienced "cruel" conditions in jail. The Broward Sheriff's Office denied Demons' claims in a statement they issued after the lawsuit was filed.
"The Broward Sheriff’s Office does not generally comment on pending litigation," the statement reads. "However, the jail does not utilize 'solitary confinement.' Rather, Mr. Demons has been placed on administrative segregation, which is a classification resulting in an alternate living assignment for an inmate whose placement in the general population poses a serious threat to the safety of staff or inmates, or life and property."
See more about the lawsuit below.