The father of Chris Thomas, one of the two victims in the
YNW Melly murder trial, wants the rapper put to death for the murder of his son, he said in an interview with Law&Crime's Sidebar podcast. "Eye for an eye. Old Testament. I think he deserves it," said Chris Thomas Sr., father of the young rapper who went by YNW Juvy.
Juvy and Anthony Williams, known as YNW Sakchaser, were shot to death in an SUV in the early morning hours of Oct. 26, 2018. The SUV driver, Cortlen Henry, known as YNW Bortlen, drove the men's bodies to an emergency room in Miramar, Florida. Juvy and Sakchaser were dead when they arrived. Jamell Demons, whose stage name is YNW Melly, was not in the SUV. But surveillance video allegedly showed him leaving a recording studio in the SUV with the three other YNW members a short time before the shooting. Melly and Bortlen were arrested in April 2019 after a months-long investigation. Prosecutors have said the stories the two men told didn't match. Assistant State Attorney Kristine Bradley told the jury that Melly fired shots into the SUV after Juvy and Sakchaser were dead to make it look like a drive-by shooting. The trial is in its first week in Broward County, Florida. It's been a long-time coming for Chris Thomas, who remembers his son as a good kid with big dreams. He said his son, Sakchaser and Melly, were friends when they were young. They started rapping in 2013.
Thomas said he's known Melly since he was born in 1999 and considered Melly's mother, Jamie King, a friend. That friendship ended after Juvy and Sakchaser were murdered. What makes the loss of his son and the trial even more difficult for Thomas is that his daughter, Chloe, was Juvy's sister and is also Cortlen's sister. Thomas said Chloe has the same mother as Cortlen, and Chloe believes Melly is innocent. This has led to a rift between father and daughter. The two haven't spoken in over two years, leaving Thomas feeling like he's essentially lost two children. "They've just got her brainwashed with the money. They're showering her with gifts… she's wishing the killer of her brother was free," Thomas said. He added, "That's a heartbreaking feeling." Melly's defense has questioned why their client would decide to kill his "best friends." Bradley told the jury that Melly was learning the loyalty oath for the G-Shine Blood Set, a gang, when Juvy and Sakchaser were murdered. Chris Thomas believes money was the motive for the murders. "For me to hear him call them boys his best friends, it's an insult," Thomas said. In the defense's opening statement, attorney David Howard said Miramar police "botched" the double homicide investigation. Thomas doesn't believe it's true. "I don't think it was botched. I think they did a great job, and everything will come together in the end. He's just trying to put a little thought in the jury's mind," Thomas said.