Rapper YNW Melly Charged With First-Degree Murder Of His Crew Members

Up and coming rapper YNW Melly was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Wednesday for allegedly killing two of his crew members and close friends – 21-year-old YNW Sakchaser, real name Anthony Williams, and 19-year-old YNW Juvy, real name Christopher Thomas Jr.

On his official Instagram page, Melly, who real name is Jamell Demons, 19, announced Wednesday he was turning himself in to the police.

“To all my fans and supporters no I did not get locked up in Washington , but I am turning myself in today I want you guys to know I love you and appreciate every single one of y’all, a couple months ago I lost my two brothers by violence and now the system want to find justice.. unfortunately a lot of rumors and lies are being said but no worries god is with me and my brother @ynw.bortlen and we want y’all to remember it’s a ynw Family I love you @ynwsakchaser1 and 2ynwjuvy #freeus,” he wrote in a caption for a photo featuring all the four members of his crew.

As soon as news of Melly's arrest spread, people on social media started to react.

The alleged murders took place Oct. 26, near an unspecified location in south Florida, where the victims were shot to death. They were last seen alive at around 3:20 a.m. EST on the day of the shooting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Both of them had moved from the Vero Beach area to Miramar days before the shooting, the Sun Sentinel reported.

Melly was also accused of taking the help of his friend YNW Bortlen (real name Cortlen Henry), 20, to make the murders look like a drive-by shooting. Henry, who was also arrested last month on the same charges as Melly, drove the victims to Memorial Hospital Miramar following the shooting.

The police later confirmed the two victims were driven in a Jeep Compass to the emergency room entrance of the hospital at 4:35 a.m. EST – a car that was driven by Henry. Williams and Thomas had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.

A day after the killings, Melly took to Twitter to vent his frustration at having his lifelong friends taken from him. “They Took My Brothers From Me Over Jealousy I know y’all watching over me," he tweeted. "And after, they wanna see me break down and stop or in jail or a box."

When his attorney Bradford Cohen was asked how the rapper felt after the deaths of Williams and Thomas Jr., he said his client was “sad, he’s upset, obviously. Those were his best friends.”

Henry was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. No bond was set for him during the appearance as the state and defense attorneys were granted a period of 24 hours to become more familiar with the case.

Both the victims appeared in a documentary video posted on Melly's YouTube page. An onscreen note at the end of the document stated that four days after the video was completed, “YNW Melly and his friends were the target of a drive-by shooting in Miami, Florida. YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser were killed.”