YNW Melly Linked To Potential Prison Escape Plan

Back in the summer, Melly was denied medical furlough while seeking treatment due to an infection caused by his diamond teeth.

BYHayley Hynes
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YNW Melly's long-spanning murder case just got a lot more interesting.

According to Complex, a Florida Sheriff's Office accused the 23-year-old – born Jamell Demons – of attempting to plan a breakout from prison alongside another inmate named Nicholas Lewis using the help of Melly's attorney.

YNW Melly, real name Jamell Demons, is seen in a police booking photo after being charged with two counts of murder in the first degree February 13, 2019 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Demons allegedly conspired with Cortlen Henry to fatally shot two other Florida based rappers, Christopher Thomas Jr and Anthony Williams, October 26. (Photo by Broward's Sheriff's Office via Getty Images)

The damning allegations were revealed on Tuesday (September 27) in court, and in the days after, the Broward County Sheriff's General Counsel's Office provided more information to the outlet about the "Murder on my Mind" artist's current situation.

"On April 11, 2022, Broward Sheriff’s Office received a confidential tip regarding inmates Nicholas Lewis and Jamell Demons, both housed in the same unit at the Main Jail, planning an escape from jail by having Demons’ attorney bring in two handcuff keys to aid in the escape," they explained. "Additional information provided by the source was that Lewis had a shank and drugs."

Upon searching Lewis' cell, multiple items were uncovered, including a six-inch shank, two razor blades, two lighters, and rolling papers. On top of that, the inmate was also reportedly holding both Seroquel and Klonopin pills, neither of which he has a prescription for.

Melly's cell search yielded less troubling results, although officers did find food from the commissary and what's been described as an "excessive [amount] of jail-issued clothing."

"The confidential source gave us two pieces of information. One of them [about the shank and drugs] turned out to be a hundred percent true," Assistant General Counsel Christian Tsoubanos explained on Tuesday in court. "And when they did the search of Demons’ cell, they did not find the handcuff key, but it could have been that there was not an opportunity to bring it into the facility yet."

After the news went public, the attorney for the mother of one of Melly's alleged victims shared a statement, saying, "As an attorney for a victim, we strongly feel any attempts to escape justice point to guilt."

"This matter needs to be fully investigated, including the attorney’s involvement. Certainly, there are times when informants and even government agents are wrong or engaging in misconduct, but we’ve seen so much in this case from rooftop stripper parties across to diamond teeth dentist needs, this is yet another chapter in what needs to just be finished in court."

It's also been noted that, during his time behind bars since 2019, Melly has made over three thousand calls to his girlfriend, Erran Barnett, resulting in his phone privileges being taken away as he only used his own personal identification number to make 22 of them.

One of the rapper's attorneys, Raven Liberty, has been accused of handing out her phone login credentials to others so they can make "non-recorded video visitation" calls with the Florida native.

Read more about YNW Melly's issues behind bars with his diamond teeth here, and tap back in with HNHH later for more pop culture news updates.

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About The Author
Hayley Hynes is the former Weekend Managing Editor of HotNewHipHop, she stepped down after two years in 2024 to pursue other creative opportunities but remains on staff part-time to cover music, gossip, and pop culture news. Currently, she contributes similar content on Blavity and 21Ninety, as well as on her personal blog where she also offers tarot/astrology services. Hayley resides on the western side of Canada, previously spending a year in Vancouver to study Fashion Marketing at Blanche Macdonald Centre and Journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary before that. She's passionate about helping others heal through storytelling, and shares much more about her life on Instagram @hayleyhynes.