Photo: Getty Images/Miami Dade County Jail
YNW Melly's co-defendant, YNW Bortlen, has accepted a plea deal that could impact the rapper's upcoming double murder retrial.
On Tuesday, September 9, Bortlen, born Cortlen Henry, pleaded no contest to two counts of accessory after the fact in connection with the deaths of Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams and Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas, and two charges in his witness tampering case. According to the Sun Sentinel, the plea agreement does not require Henry to testify against Melly, born Jamell Demons, during his upcoming double murder retrial next year. However, as part of the deal, he must explain his involvement with the murders in a sworn statement to Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein.
In exchange, Henry will be sentenced to 10 years in prison and will receive time served. He will also have to complete six years of probation. In addition, Henry has also signed a "proffer," which means he's agreed to provide information to prosecutors when necessary. The proffer also allows the opportunity for Henry to be called on as a witness. If he is called to the witness stand during the trial, Henry will not be able to plead the Fifth Amendment, and he will have to answer any questions truthfully.
Henry would've faced multiple life sentences if he hadn't accepted the plea deal. He was charged with double murder for allegedly helping Demons stage the shooting deaths of Williams and Thomas in October 2018. Prosecutors alleged Melly fired fatal shots at his childhood friends while inside a Jeep following a late night at a studio in Fort Lauderdale. They argued Henry was in the driver's seat when the shots were fired, and accused him of driving his friends' lifeless bodies to a hospital in Miramar. He allegedly told hospital staff that Williams and Thomas were shot in a drive-by shooting, but Demons wasn't with them at the time.
The "Mixed Personalities" rapper faced the charges during his first trial in May 2023. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Demons recruited Henry to help him make the shooting look like a drive-by. They also charged Henry with witness tampering after he allegedly sent messages from the rapper to friends who were planning to take the witness stand. As part of the deal, Henry's first-degree murder charges and the witness tampering charges were dropped.
Meanwhile, YNW Melly's second murder trial is scheduled for 2027, following multiple delays. You can watch YNW Bortlen formally accept the plea deal in court below.