Long-running Young Thug gang trial to end without any murder convictions

ATLANTA — Three years after Atlanta rapper Young Thug and 27 others were indicted on gang and racketeering charges, followed by a long, problem-plagued trial, nobody will be convicted of murder.

When Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the indictment in May 2022, she said her office was cracking down on a violent street gang responsible for multiple killings run by Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams.

But Willis dropped the only remaining murder charge Monday after defendant Demise McMullen pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated assault. Young Thug went home Oct. 31 after pleading guilty to gang, drug and gun charges and remains on probation.

Prosecutors alleged that Young Thug and two others founded the street gang Young Slime Life, which was associated with the Bloods street gang, in 2012. The 33-year-old artist has a record label called Young Stoner Life, which prosecutors alleged was tied to Young Slime Life.

A long and controversial trial

Prosecutors drew ire for using song lyrics and social media posts in their case. Attorney Doug Weinstein, who represented defendant Deamonte Kendrick, who raps under the name Yak Gotti, said prosecutors targeted men who pursued music as a way out of hardship in economically ''deprived'' Atlanta areas and tried to ''claw them back in, hold them back down.''

''Whatever they may have done in their youth, and I would argue most of them didn't do anything, to be targeted in this way by the prosecutors is just wrong,'' said Weinstein. ''Whatever you think of their music — the violence, the misogynistic lyrics — that is not a reason to go after these guys.''

Weinstein continued, adding, ''People like my client, Mr. Kendrick, had to be incarcerated for 2 1/2 years or more, in the case of some of these defendants, for a crime that they didn't do."

Kendrick was stabbed in jail. He was one of two defendants who didn't take plea deals, and the only one cleared of all charges, including a murder charge in the 2015 drive-by shooting death of rival gang member Donovan Thomas Jr., known as ''Big Nut.''

In a statement to The Associated Press, Willis spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said ''anti-gang efforts'' have yielded ''over 400 convictions of gang members" since Willis became district attorney, including 19 people in this case. Those efforts were ''key'' in making Fulton County "safer, taking dangerous offenders off the streets and sending a message that gang activity will not be tolerated in our community,'' he said.

Willis prosecuted the case using Georgia's broad anti-racketeering law. Critics say using that law caused a messy trial by roping in dozens of people with varying levels of alleged culpability. The anti-racketeering law allows prosecutors to present evidence that might otherwise not be allowed, which some defense attorneys say lets prosecutors present irrelevant material to the jury. It also often leads to people being held in jail longer for multiple reasons.

''It made everything so much more complicated and cumbersome,'' said Max Schardt, defense attorney for defendant Shannon Stillwell.

No ‘home run'

Stillwell was among five codefendants who stood trial alongside Young Thug beginning in November 2023.

After Young Thug and the others entered guilty pleas, Stillwell and Kendrick were the only ones who took their chances with a jury. They were found not guilty of racketeering, murder and gang-related charges in December. Stillwell was found guilty only of gun possession. The verdict came nearly two years after jury selection began.

Nine other defendants, including the rapper Gunna, accepted plea deals before the trial began. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case. Twelve defendants were split from the original trial, and charges against six of them were dismissed in early December. Another recently got a murder charge dismissed after entering an Alford plea, which allows him to maintain his innocence while acknowledging that it is in his best interest to plead guilty.

McMullen, who was also charged with murder in Thomas' killing, entered an Alford plea to a lesser aggravated assault charge and another count of violating the anti-racketeering law. A judge in this case sentenced him to 40 years, with 20 to be served in confinement at the same time as the sentence he's already serving, and 20 suspended for time served. That leaves one remaining defendant who is accused of shooting and wounding an Atlanta police officer in February 2022 while on probation. His fate is expected to be determined soon.

Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman, who was not involved in the case, said Willis could have secured guilty pleas years ago without a long, expensive trial if she hadn't used the anti-racketeering law.

''She went for a home run, and she didn't get it,'' said Fleischman.

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Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.