The Fake Tears and The Blood-Soaked Gun: Leaked Interrogation Exposes Alleged Blueprint for YNW Melly’s Cold-Blooded Cover-Up

The code of silence that has long surrounded the sensational murder case of rising rapper YNW Melly was violently shattered in late 2025. After years of legal back-and-forth, a close associate finally leaked raw, unfiltered interrogation footage from 2019, providing the most comprehensive and chilling insider account yet of the double homicide that claimed the lives of Melly’s friends and crew members, Anthony “YNW Sackchaser” Williams and Christopher “YNW Juvie” Thomas Jr.

This is not a story of a spontaneous argument that escalated; according to the prosecution’s theory, reinforced by this stunning new testimony, it is a detailed account of calculated betrayal, the staging of a crime, and a chilling performance of grief. The surfacing of this video, months after Melly’s co-defendant took a plea deal and just over a year before the highly anticipated retrial, has sent shockwaves through the hip-hop community, forcing a brutal confrontation with the unwritten laws of loyalty and the deadly consequences of financial ambition.

A Drive-By That Never Happened

The tragedy dates back to October 26, 2018, when Sackchaser and Juvie were found dead in a Jeep Cherokee at a hospital in Miramar, Florida. Initially, the narrative presented was a tragic, random drive-by shooting—the kind of senseless violence that claims too many young lives in the community. However, investigators soon discovered a narrative far more sinister.

The forensic evidence quickly shredded the initial story. Autopsy results showed that both victims had been shot from inside the vehicle, not from an outside threat. Bullet trajectories pointed directly to the rear driver’s side seat—the exact seat allegedly occupied by Jamal Demons, better known as YNW Melly. This key finding completely re-framed the case: the crime was not a casualty of street warfare; it was allegedly an inside job.

The prosecution developed a theory of cold-blooded, calculated staging. They allege that Melly and his co-defendant, Courtland “YNW Bortland” Henry, did not just murder their friends; they embarked on an elaborate cover-up. Cell phone data tracked the Jeep moving north, away from the typical routes, toward the desolate edge of the Everglades, a dark, isolated area that provided zero witnesses. It was in this isolated location that the murders are alleged to have taken place. Following the internal shootings, the vehicle was allegedly shot up from the outside to fabricate the drive-by scenario, a theory supported by the medical examiner’s testimony that the external wounds were post-mortem—meaning they were inflicted after the victims were already dead.

This staging, driving around with the bodies of their alleged victims before creating the theatrical illusion of a street attack, speaks to a level of calculated behavior that shocked the court and the public. But the full, unvarnished details of the night remained shrouded until the November 2025 leak.

The Insider: Jacobe Mills and the Crucial Timing

The leaked interrogation features Jacobe Mills, also known as Cortez Teezy or Jacobe Mills, a close associate and cousin of Bortland, who was present that night in the second car, a red Mitsubishi SUV. Crucially, Mills’s interrogation was recorded in January 2019, just months after the murders and years before most of the key evidence, such as cell phone data and forensic findings, was made public. This timing gives his testimony a shocking level of credibility. He was discussing details that only an insider would know.

Mills’s account paints a picture of brewing toxicity long before the violence. He described the studio session at New Era Recording Studio that night as tense, with the crew acting “weird.” He recalled Sackchaser being “extra aggressive,” slapping people for falling asleep during the session, establishing a climate of emotional volatility and disrespect within the collective.

The underlying tension, according to various leaked information and sources referenced in the footage, was rooted in financial disputes. Sackchaser allegedly believed he was the CEO of YNW and was entitled to half of the substantial earnings Melly was beginning to accumulate from a potentially multi-hundred-thousand-dollar record deal. When money and ego collide in the high-stakes world of hip-hop, the fallout can be catastrophic, and Mills’s testimony strongly supports the theory that this was the deadly trigger.

The Blueprint of Betrayal: Fake Tears and a Missing Gun

The most emotionally charged parts of Mills’s testimony revolve around the alleged killer’s actions immediately after the event. Mills claims he received a FaceTime call from Melly shortly after the murders. In a horrifying detail, Mills described Melly as “fake crying with no actual tears,” suggesting he was putting on a performance to sell the story of devastation. This chilling description of an immediate switch from alleged executioner to grieving friend paints a portrait of profound emotional detachment, aligning with the “cold-blooded” assessment by the prosecution.

Mills also provided specific physical details that support the cover-up theory. He mentioned that Melly had changed into a tank top and gym shorts when he saw him later at fellow rapper Fredo Bang’s house, suggesting a change of clothes likely related to disposing of evidence. This detail has since been corroborated by other witnesses.

Perhaps the most astonishing revelation challenges a major point of law enforcement’s investigation. Mills described how, the morning after the murders, the crew went searching in nearby woods and allegedly found a “blood-soaked 40 caliber handgun.” He claims a manager took the weapon away. The prosecution has repeatedly stated that despite extensive searches, the murder weapon was never recovered. Mills’s account suggests that weapons were found and deliberately removed by the inner circle, explaining the lack of physical evidence for investigators.

He also provided non-public facts, such as Juvie’s thumb being shot off and the specific location where Melly was later picked up by Fredo Bang, details that align perfectly with cell phone data and autopsy reports that were not made public until years after the interrogation.

Caught Between Two Codes: Snitch or Survivor?

Mills’s role in this saga is complex and fraught with peril. He was close enough to the tragedy to know the truth but distant enough to survive. Throughout the interrogation, he repeatedly insisted that he was not “snitching” and was merely trying to help his friends. However, in the unforgiving realm of street culture, cooperating with law enforcement is the ultimate betrayal, regardless of motivation. Social media’s reaction has been swift and brutal, with many in the hip-hop community labeling him a snitch and a pariah.

The testimony also underscores the genuine fear and immense pressure faced by those caught in the web of street politics. Mills expressed genuine fear that his family would be killed over his cooperation, illustrating the high-stakes, life-or-death implications of the “no snitching” code. He was trapped between the moral imperative of seeking justice for his murdered friends and the terrifying reality of becoming a target himself. The conflict between this unwritten street law and the pursuit of legal justice remains one of the most defining tensions of the entire case.

The Fallout and the Road to Retrial

The timing of this leak, months before the January 2027 retrial, has created a massive legal headache and a media spectacle. Legal experts agree that while the interrogation footage itself may be deemed inadmissible in the criminal trial due to hearsay or authentication issues, its viral explosion across social media has fundamentally compromised the pool of potential jurors. How can a court seat twelve impartial individuals when millions of people have already watched the alleged blueprint for the crime laid out in detail? Defense attorneys are widely expected to move to suppress the evidence and request a change of venue, arguing that a fair trial is now nearly impossible.

The leaks are also expected to fuel the ongoing civil wrongful death lawsuits filed by the victims’ families, where rules for admissible evidence are often more relaxed and the burden of proof is lower than in a criminal court. The net of investigation is widening, with figures like Fredo Bang being dragged into depositions simply because his name was mentioned in connection with Melly’s location after the alleged crime.

The plea deal accepted by co-defendant YNW Bortland in October 2025 for accessory charges, potentially positioning him to testify against Melly, combined with the detailed revelations from Mills, has placed an enormous amount of pressure on Melly’s defense team. The State of Florida is still seeking the death penalty, making the stakes impossibly high.

Ultimately, the YNW Melly case has become more than just a murder trial; it is a cultural inflection point. It is a harsh spotlight on the deadly confluence of young ambition, enormous financial wealth, and the devastating consequences of misplaced loyalty in the modern music industry. As the courts prepare for the final, decisive chapter in 2027, the reverberations from this stunning leak have ensured that this tragic story of betrayal and alleged premeditation will remain one of the most closely watched and intensely debated legal sagas in contemporary hip-hop history.