YNW Melly is seeking immediate release from prison in a new lawsuit, in which he accuses the Broward Sheriff's Office of cruel treatment and violating his constitutional rights.
His attorney Michael Pizzi Jr. held a news conference to discuss the lawsuit on Monday morning.
The rapper, whose real name is Jamell Demons, is accused of murdering two of his childhood friends, Chris “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams, in 2018 after a late-night recording session by making it look like a drive-by shooting.
The lawsuit, filed by Pizzi Jr. on Saturday, alleges that Demons is being "illegally detained under conditions that violate the First, Fifth, Sixth, Eight and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution."
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Demons has not been able to see or speak with any family in several years and has been experiencing "debilitating isolation," the suit claims.
His team also claims BSO created unreasonable restrictions and interfered with the ability of his attorneys to interact with him.
"His cruel treatment by the Broward Detention authorities warrants his immediate release from pretrial detention since the detaining authorities have shown such a callous disregard for his human dignity Right to Counsel," the lawsuit states.
U.S. & World
Demons was in court in Broward County back in July, where a judge set a date for his double murder retrial, months after his retrial was placed on hold.
Judge Martin Fein set a new trial date of September 10, 2025. In terms of the more recent tampering case, he set a pretrial meeting for December 5, 2024.
The first double murder trial against Melly ended in a mistrial last summer.
