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YNW Melly may finally be released from jail on bail if the next few weeks goes his way.
During a hearing held on Monday, November 18, U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian responded to a lawsuit the rapper's attorneys recently filed against the Broward Sheriff's Office. According to the Miami Herald, Judge Damien required BSO to submit a formal explanation why Melly, born Jamell Demons, shouldn't be released from jail following the grim allegations he made in his lawsuit against them. In the 12-page complaint, Demons claimed he's been living in conditions that would "shock the conscience and could not even be imagined."
“For the first time the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the jail officials will have to explain to a Federal Judge why they are refusing to permit Mr. [Demons] to have the same phone contact and visitation and lawyer visits that all inmates are guaranteed by the United States Constitution,” his attorney Michael Pizzi said.
The "Mixed Personalities" rapper has been isolated from the outside world, according to the lawsuit. He was barred from meeting with his lawyers several times and hasn't been able to speak to his family in the past three years. The isolation reportedly began in 2022 after an inmate filed a complaint against Demons, in which he claimed the rapper devised an escape plan that involved one of his attorneys. In response, jailhouse workers searched Demons' cell and seized his personal effects. An investigation proved there was no crime committed, but he was still sent to solitary confinement anyways.
“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," a rep for BSO said after the lawsuit was filed.
Demons has been locked up since 2019 for double murder charges. He stands accused of fatally shooting his two friends Anthony "YNW Sakchaser" Williams and Christopher "YNW Juvy" Thomas Jr. in October 2018. He was arrested a few months later and was denied bail. He faced his charges during a trial in 2023, but the proceedings ended in a mistrial. A second trial has been scheduled for September 10, 2025. If convicted, Demons faces the death penalty.
BSO has until December 6 to file a detailed response to the judge's order, which must include “all documents and transcripts necessary for the resolution of this petition.” If they do respond, Demons' team has 14 days to offer a counter response. If BSO declines to respond, then the 25-year-old artist could be released on bond immediately.