ATLANTA– The long-running gang and racketeering trial in Atlanta that led to rapper Young Thug pleading guilty in October ended Tuesday when a jury found the final two defendants not guilty of murder and gang-related charges.
Deamonte Kendrick, who raps as Yak Gotti, was acquitted of all charges and Shannon Stillwell was found guilty only of gun possession charges. The rulings came nearly two years after jury selection began and a year after opening statements in a trial that has been plagued by problems.
The original sweeping indictment accused 28 people of conspiring to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, using song lyrics and social media posts as evidence. Young criminala Grammy-winning artist whose real name is Jeffery Williams was released on parole after him pleaded guilty in October on gang, drug and weapons charges when negotiations with prosecutors broke down.
Kendrick and Stillwell were charged in the 2015 murder of Donovan Thomas Jr., also known as “Big Nut,” who prosecutors said was part of a rival gang. Stillwell was also charged in the 2022 death of Shymel Drinks, who prosecutors say was killed in retaliation for the killings days earlier of two associates of a gang known as YSL, which they say was co-founded by Young Thug.
Thomas was killed in a drive-by shooting outside an Atlanta barbershop. In the other killing, prosecutors allege Stillwell pulled up next to Drinks and fired three bullets into his car.
Stillwell was sentenced to the maximum of ten years for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon previously convicted of a crime involving a firearm, with credit for the two years already served and the balance to be served on probation are served.
While a total of four defendants pleaded guilty before the end of the trial, the verdict for the last two was a major setback for the Fulton County district attorney. Fani Willis. Critics had criticized her use of the state’s anti-racketeering law, which she also used to file charges against newly elected President Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“We always respect the verdict of a jury,” said Jeff DiSantis, spokesman for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Defense attorneys criticized the state for relying on song lyrics, saying they were among the flawed evidence that prosecutors cobbled together with carefully selected social media posts and unreliable witness statements to create a misleading narrative about young men who turned to music to escape economic hardship and difficult pasts.
Prosecutors say Williams and two others founded Young Slime Life in 2012, which they said was linked to the national Bloods gang. The 33-year-old artist also has a record label called Young Stoner Life. Kendrick is featured on two of the most popular songs from the label’s compilation album Slime Language 2, “Take It to Trial” and “Slatty,” as well as Young Thug’s “Slime Sh-t,” which prosecutors entered into evidence at trial presented.
Williams found himself in a risky situation “blind” plea – meaning he pleaded guilty without an agreement on his sentence – in October. Judge Paige Reese Whitaker admitted him out of jail on probation with strict restrictions, including a 10-year ban in metro Atlanta, except in certain cases.
The process was fraught with problems and delays and shocked the Atlanta rap scene. Growing up in a violence-filled Atlanta housing project, Williams became a highly successful artist who put his own melodic spin on the modern Southern trap sound he helped popularize.
In addition to using song lyrics and messages to prove YSL was a gang, Kendrick’s attorney Doug Weinstein said during closing arguments that prosecutors randomly listed alleged crimes “see what sticks” but did not prove they were connected to a criminal enterprise.
Although suspects have committed crimes in the past, attorney Max Schardt said, it was to make money for themselves in communities that lacked economic opportunity — and not to advance a gang. And music allowed some of them to go further.
“As a whole, we know the struggles these communities have had,” Schardt said. “A sad, tacit acceptance that it’s either rap, prison or death.”
Schardt tried to cast doubt on gang investigators and YSL associates the state had presented as witnesses. Several alleged YSL members testified that they lied to police to stay out of jail, and Schardt said officers threatened them with long prison terms if they did not say the right thing. He suggested that one of those witnesses could have killed Thomas.
Prosecutors said these witnesses were honest with police but lied on the stand, in front of the people they had “betrayed.” And the testimonies are corroborated by other evidence, such as songs and social media posts that said the suspects were “bragging about murder.”
Prosecutors said Stillwell and Kendrick were in the car used in the drive-by shooting that killed Thomas and that Stillwell’s social media posts indicate he was involved.
Attorney Doug Weinstein said there is no evidence Kendrick ever got into that car, but surveillance footage shows he was in his own car around the time of the shooting. Prosecutors said Kendrick turned cars off camera and was the one who told his counterparts where Thomas was, making him liable for his death.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys had conflicting interpretations of the distant surveillance footage of Drinks’ murder. Stillwell pulled up next to Drinks’ car, fired three shots at his car and then sped away, prosecutors said. The defense said Stillwell drove away before Drinks was shot and that there was no gunshot residue in Stillwell’s car.
Jury selection for the trial took place almost 10 monthsand Stillwel was stabbed last year at the Fulton County Jail, where trial proceedings were stayed. Kendrick was stabbed on Sunday in prison.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville was removed from the case in July after lawyers submitted a motion to censure him based on a meeting he had with prosecutors and a state witness without attorneys present. When Whitaker took overshe chided the prosecutor for being disorganized and not sharing evidence.
Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel said he wanted to move forward with the lawsuit because he believed they were winning, but the rapper said sitting in court felt like “hell” and he wanted to go home , to his family.
Nine people were charged in the indictment, including Gunnaaccepted plea deals before the trial began. Charges against twelve others are still pending. Prosecutors dropped charges against one suspect after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case.
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Kramon is a staff member of 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.