After almost a year of testimony, closing statements began in the YSL gang and racketeering trial that included rapper Young Thug. The last two defendants, Deamonte Kendrick — who raps as Yak Gotti — and Shannon Stillwell are set to learn their fate on murder, drug, gun and gang charges after the trail ended Monday.
Defendant Deamonte Kendrick appears during the rapper Young Thug trial at Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Christian Adkins makes closing arguments during the rapper Young Thug trial at Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. Defendant Deamonte Kendrick appears during the rapper Young Thug trial at Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.
The trial for six of those defendants began a year ago. Four of them, including Young Thug, pleaded guilty last month. Stillwell and Kendrick rejected plea deals after weeks of negotiations, and their lawyers chose not to present evidence or witnesses. Doug Weinstein, Kendrick’s defense attorney, said it was wrong for prosecutors to target the defendants — all Black — for their music and lyrics.“We are targeting gang members who decided to wreak havoc on communities in Fulton County,” Hylton said. “And those communities that they violated, those communities were communities of color.”
Weinstein and Stillwell’s defense attorney, Max Schardt, said prosecutors threw a bunch of separate alleged crimes, many from around a decade ago, into an indictment without showing that they were connected to a criminal enterprise.
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