Fulton County prosecutors said they’re dropping charges against six of the remaining defendants in the gang and racketeering “Young Slime Life” case.
In motions filed Wednesday night, prosecutors sought to dismiss charges against Kahlieff Adams, Damone Blalock, Javaris Bradford, Justin Cobb, Jevon Fleetwood and Jayden Myrick. All six were indicted, along with Atlanta rapper Young Thug, in May 2022 for violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and a number of gang, drug and gun charges.
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
The six were split off from the original trial, which concluded Tuesday, for a variety of reasons. Adams was severed because his attorney was pregnant during jury selection; Bradford and Fleetwood didn’t have attorneys by December 2022; Blalock got sick during jury selection; and Cobb is not in custody. Myrick was severed after a mental health evaluation and admitting to the judge that he hadn’t taken his medication in several months.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Adam Abbate wrote that the dismissal of charges is being sought “in the interest of the public and of judicial economy.”
The dismissal bids followed a verdict Tuesday in which Deamonte Kendrick and Shannon Stillwell were both acquitted of murder, gang and racketeering charges. Stillwell was convicted on a lone gun charge. Both remain in jail on unrelated pending charges.
Among the charges on the chopping block Wednesday are murder charges against Bradford and Cobb relating to the 2015 death of Donovan Thomas. Demise McMullen would be the only defendant still facing a murder charge in Thomas’ death after Tuesday’s verdict.
Prosecutors are asking to cut RICO and attempted murder charges against Adams, noting he was convicted in 2019 on murder and other charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The attempted murder charge is relating to the stabbing of rapper and alleged rival gang member YFN Lucci at the Fulton County Jail in February 2022.
Adams gained notoriety during jury selection for allegedly handing Young Thug a Percocet pill in open court.
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Similar to Adams, prosecutors are seeking to dismiss charges against Myrick after he was sentenced in October 2022 to life without parole followed by three consecutive life sentences on murder and other charges. Myrick also faced a RICO charge and a charge related to the jailhouse stabbing.
Blalock, who faces a single RICO charge, was convicted in September 2021 of murder in the 2019 death of 15-year-old Jamari Holmes. He, along with former co-defendant Rodalius Ryan, were sentenced to life in prison. Blalock was also allegedly involved in a separate stabbing at the Fulton County Jail in 2023. He is appealing his murder conviction.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Prosecutors filed a motion seeking to dismiss Fleetwood’s sole RICO charge from the indictment, noting he was convicted in July 2021 of attempted murder, gang and gun charges and sentenced to 20 years to serve eight in custody.
Abbate also wrote that the dismissal of all these charges reduces the number of defendants in the custody of the Fulton County Sheriff and “reduces the potential for safety and security concerns in the trial of this case.”
It’s not the first time prosecutors have dismissed charges against YSL defendants citing previous convictions. Charges against Cordarius Dorsey were dismissed in September 2023 after he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
After the verdict against Kendrick and Stillwell was rendered Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker encouraged attorneys to continue plea negotiations until Dec. 17. On Wednesday, Jimmy Winfrey took a plea deal to resolve his case.
If the judge rubber-stamps the prosecutors’ dismissal bids, five defendants will remain in the case.
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