Another defendant in the Fulton County “Young Slime Life” gang trial had his case severed Monday following a mental health evaluation and admitting to the judge that he hadn’t taken his medication in several months.
Jayden Myrick previously sought to represent himself in the sprawling gang and racketeering case, but was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation earlier this year after claiming to have received legal advice from President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
“I’m not the regular inmate, I be with Joe Biden and Donald Trump and they be talking to me,” Myrick said at one point during that hearing. “Donald Trump is going to get me out.”
On Monday, Chief Judge Ural Glanville raised concerns that Myrick said he hasn’t taken his psychiatric medication since December.
“I think severance would be appropriate at this point in time,” the judge said.
This brings the remaining number of defendants set to stand trial together to 10. Last week, the judge severed the cases of two other defendants because their attorneys are pregnant and preparing to take maternity leave.
Myrick was convicted of murder in a separate case last October and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was also convicted of armed robbery, aggravated assault and 13 other counts in the July 2018 shooting of Christian Broder, a young father who had just left a wedding at an Atlanta country club.
Myrick testified at the previous trial that he has been affiliated with street gangs since he was 9 or 10. He acknowledged having ties to both YSL and the Bloods-affiliated Nine Trey Gangsters, and said he was groomed by gangs as a child.
“I was too young to get jumped in,” Myrick said on the stand. “But as I grew older I was like family to them.”
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Prosecutors say YSL is a southwest Atlanta gang responsible for much of the city’s violent crime. Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, is accused of being a cofounder and leader of the group. He was among 28 alleged associates indicted in the spring of 2022. The rapper’s defense attorneys strongly contest the charges and say YSL is simply the name of the star’s record label.
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