YNW Melly is staying behind bars after a Florida judge denied his latest request to be released on bond ahead of his retrial. It is another major turn in a case that has kept the rapper in the spotlight for years.
During a Fort Lauderdale evidentiary hearing on April 30, prosecutors argued they still have enough evidence to convict YNW Melly in the Broward County double-murder case. Judge Martin S. Fein agreed that the state’s case remains strong enough, at least legally, to keep him jailed without bond while the retrial gets closer.
In the court order, the judge said that after reviewing testimony, trial evidence, and electronic court records, the prosecution’s evidence was “arguably sufficient to convict.” The court also pointed to Florida standards for serious capital cases, saying the “proof of guilt is evident and the presumption of guilt is great.”
Several witnesses reportedly testified during the hearing, including Audrey Gross, Nikaya Mirhadi-Pathon, Kevin Corbett, Matthew Norman, and Victor Delgado. The judge said each witness was considered credible.
The ruling also looked back at earlier bond denials from 2023 and 2025 after Melly’s mistrial. At the same time, the judge made it clear he was not adopting earlier claims that suggested Melly had ties to violent gangs.
Melly, born Jamell Demons, turned 28 on May 1. He broke through in 2018 with the hit Murder on My Mind and later surrendered to authorities in 2019 after being charged in connection with the deaths of two close friends.
The case remains one of the most closely watched legal sagas in hip hop. With the first trial ending in a mistrial, attention is now shifting to the retrial set for January 6, 2027, in Broward County.
For now, he will remain in custody without bond as the State of Florida continues moving the case forward.
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