YNW Melly’s attempt at getting out of prison while he awaits trial for double murder has been denied. The 20-year-old rapper tested positive for coronavirus earlier in the month and filed an emergency motion to be released to a hospital for treatment but a judge shot down the request.
Melly will remain incarcerated at one of Florida’s Broward County Jail facilities as he battles the virus, TMZ reports.
“It’s a scary situation for all inmates in the jails, as I believe most jails think they can handle this outbreak and my opinion is they cannot,” Melly’s attorney, Bradford Cohen, wrote on Instagram on April 3. “They must loosen the regulations on soap, hand sanitizer and wipes. They currently are [banned] because of alcohol content. Jails and prisons need to get ahead of this curve if it already isn’t to late.”
Melly, whose birth name is Jamell Demons, was one of the first inmates in Broward County jails to catch COVID-19. A 64-year-old inmate died from coronavirus last week.
Broward County’s jail population dropped below 3,000 after at least 400 inmates were released in the past month amid concerns over the viral outbreak.