Jury selection postponed in rapper YNW Melly’s murder trial

Jury selection in the murder trial of Jamell Demons was postponed for a week, and maybe more, as lawyers and Broward Circuit Judge Andrew Siegel work their way through a flurry of last-minute motions and hearings.

Demons, known professionally as rapper YNW Melly, is facing a possible death sentence if convicted of the 2018 murders of friends and fellow musicians Anthony Williams, 21, and Christopher Thomas Jr., 19, in Miramar.

Jury selection was initially scheduled to begin on Tuesday, but was postponed until Wednesday. Demons’ Twitter account posted a message late Tuesday boasting, “”Y’all can uncross y’all [fingers], I’ll be home this year.”

[ RELATED: Prosecutors to seek death penalty for rapper YNW Melly ]

By the end of Wednesday, the judge dropped any discussion of being able to start this week. Attorneys are due back in court next Tuesday for more pre-trial hearings. Siegel said if everything is finished by Tuesday, jury selection could start the next day.

But that, he said, is not likely.

Jury selection is likely to run through most of May, if not all of it. Most jurors summoned to the courthouse through the end of April and beginning of May will first be directed to the penalty phase trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz. Only those excused from that case will be considered for other trials.

[ RELAtED: Prosecutors want to question mother of YNW Melly ]

Siegel said the Demons case received less media coverage than the Parkland shooting and won’t last as long, which should make jury selection run more smoothly.

But he did not set a firm date for when selection would begin.

Rafael Olmeda may be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Twitter @rolmeda.