The jury hearing the gang and racketeering case against Young Thug and his allies returned to the Fulton County courtroom Monday to discover the star defendant is no longer on trial.
The Atlanta rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, pleaded guilty to gang, gun and drug charges last week and was released after nearly two and a half years behind bars. Three others also entered guilty pleas, leaving just two remaining defendants in the longest trial in Georgia history.
The jury had been gone for nearly two weeks while details of the deals were worked out. They have been instructed not to follow news surrounding the case.
“You will notice that certain of the co-defendants are no longer before you for reasons that do not concern you,” Fulton County Judge Paige Reese Whitaker told jurors as they entered the courtroom for the first time since Oct. 23.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
“The prosecution of those co-defendants is no longer a part of this trial,” she said. “You must not speculate, make assumptions or draw any conclusions about the possible reasons for their absence.”
The remaining defendants, Shannon Stillwell and Deamonte Kendrick, rejected plea offers after more than a week of negotiations with prosecutors. Each faces life in prison, plus additional time, if convicted of all charges.
They’re accused of the 2015 killing of Donovan Thomas Jr., who prosecutors say was the leader of a rival gang. The 26-year-old was gunned down during a drive-by shooting outside an Atlanta barbershop amid an ongoing feud with “Young Slime Life” members, prosecutors say.
Attorneys for both Stillwell and Kendrick contend their clients are not guilty and say they intend to take the trial all the way to a jury verdict.
“He is not going to plead out and take responsibility for the death of Donovan Thomas when he had absolutely nothing to do it,” Kendrick’s attorney, Doug Weinstein, said last week.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The trial resumed with the testimony of Wunnie Lee, a former co-defendant who accepted a deal in late 2022 just before jury selection began. Lee is an Atlanta rapper who performs under the name SlimeLife Shawty.
Meanwhile, Williams took to social media over the weekend where the Grammy-winner indicated he could be back in the studio soon.
“Wham let’s drop one on these rats peter,” Williams wrote Sunday morning.
Wham is the nickname of Atlanta rapper Lil Baby, and the post led some fans to speculate that Williams was inviting his colleague to collaborate on a new release.
Prosecutors had argued that Williams is the leader of YSL, which they contend is a violent street gang based in the Cleveland Avenue on Atlanta’s southside.
It’s unclear if Fulton prosecutors plan to streamline the presentation of evidence now that four of the six defendants are no longer on trial.
