Latest Not Guilty Murder Defendants in Gang Trial That Included Rapper Young Thug

By CHARLOTTE KRAMON, Associated Press/Report for America

ATLANTA (AP) — The lengthy gang and racketeering trial in Atlanta that led to rapper Young Thug pleading guilty in October ended Tuesday when a jury found the final two defendants not guilty of murder and gang-related charges.

Deamonte Kendrick, who raps as Yak Gotti, was acquitted of all charges and Shannon Stillwell was found guilty only of one weapons charge. The verdicts came nearly two years after jury selection began and a year after opening statements in a trial plagued by problems.

The original sweeping indictment accused 28 people of conspiring to violate Georgia’s Chant Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and used song lyrics and social media posts as evidence. young thuga Grammy-winning artist whose real name is Jeffery Williams, was released on parole after pleaded guilty in October on gang, drug and weapons charges when negotiations with prosecutors failed.

Kendrick and Stillwell were charged with the 2015 murder of Donovan Thomas Jr., also known as “Big Nut,” who prosecutors said was in a rival gang. Stillwell was also charged in the 2022 death of Shymel Drinks, who prosecutors say was killed in retaliation for the murders days earlier of two associates of a gang known as YSL, which they say was co-founded by Young Thug.

Thomas was killed in a drive-by shooting outside an Atlanta barbershop. In the other murder, prosecutors alleged that Stillwell pulled up next to Drinks and fired three bullets into his car.

Stillwell was sentenced to the maximum 10 years for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon previously convicted of a gun-related felony, with credit for the two years already served and the remainder to be served on probation.

While a total of four defendants pleaded guilty before the end of the trial, the verdict of the last two was a major setback for the Fulton County district attorney. Fani Willis. Critics had criticized his use of the state’s organized crime law, which he also used to bring charges. against President-elect Donald Trump for their attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

“We always respect a jury’s verdict,” said Jeff DiSantis, spokesman for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Defense attorneys criticized the state for relying on song lyrics, saying they were among flawed evidence that prosecutors combined along with selected social media posts and unreliable witness testimony to create a misleading narrative about young men who turned to crime. music to escape from economic difficulties and difficult pasts.

Prosecutors say Williams and two others founded Young Slime Life in 2012, which they said was associated with the nationwide Bloods gang. The 33-year-old artist also has a record label called Young Stoner Life. Kendrick appears on two of the most popular songs on the label’s Slime Language 2 compilation album, “Take It to Trial” and “Slatty,” as well as Young Thug’s “Slime Sh-t,” which prosecutors introduced as evidence in the judgment.

Williams entered into a risky “blind” plea (meaning he pleaded guilty without a sentencing agreement) in October. Judge Paige Reese Whitaker allowed him out of jail on parole with strict restrictions, including a 10-year ban in the metro Atlanta area, except on certain occasions.

The trial has been plagued with problems and delays and shook the Atlanta rap scene. Williams grew up in a violence-plagued Atlanta housing project and became a highly successful artist who added his own melodic touch to the modern Southern trap sound he helped popularize.

In addition to using letters and posts to show that YSL was a gang, Kendrick’s attorney, Doug Weinstein, said during closing arguments that prosecutors rounded up random alleged crimes to “see what sticks,” but did not prove they were connected to a criminal enterprise.

While the defendants committed crimes in the past, defense attorney Max Schardt said, it was to make money in communities stripped of economic opportunity, not to advance a gang. And music allowed some of them to move forward.

“Overall, we know the struggles these communities have had,” Schardt said. “A sad, tacit acceptance that it’s either rap, prison or death.”

Schardt attempted to cast doubt on the gang investigators and YSL associates the state brought in as witnesses. Several alleged YSL members testified that they had lied to police to avoid going to prison, and Schardt said officers had threatened them with long prison terms if they did not say the right thing. He suggested that one of those witnesses might have killed Thomas.

Prosecutors said those witnesses were honest with police but lied on the stand, in front of the people they had “snitched on.” And the testimonies are corroborated by other evidence, such as songs and social media posts where they said the defendants were “bragging about the murder.”

Prosecutors said Stillwell and Kendrick were in the car used in the shooting that killed Thomas and that Stillwell’s social media posts indicate he was involved.

Defense attorney Doug Weinstein said there was no evidence that Kendrick ever got into that car, but rather surveillance footage shows he was in his own vehicle at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors said Kendrick turned the cars off camera and that he was the one who told his counterparts where Thomas was, holding him responsible for her death.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys had conflicting interpretations of distant surveillance footage of Drinks’ murder. Stillwell pulled up next to Drinks’ car and fired three bullets into his car, then sped away, prosecutors said. The defense said Stillwell left before Drinks was shot and that there was no gunshot residue in Stillwell’s car.