Donald Trump prosecutor Fani Willis was dealt a massive blow Tuesday after her prosecution of the YSL gang — Georgia’s longest-running trial — ended with the acquittals of the last two defendants in the case.
A Fulton County jury Tuesday morning found Deamonte Kendrick — who raps under the name Yak Gotti — not guilty on all charges and also acquitted Shannon Stillwell of all charges except for one count of firearm possession by a convicted felon.
Stillwell and Kendrick were accused of murdering rival gang member Donovan Thomas Jr. – aka “Big Nut” – during a drive-by shooting outside an Atlanta barbershop on Jan. 10, 2015.
Stillwell was also accused of fatally shooting Shymel Drinks in 2022 in alleged revenge for murders days earlier of two other YSL associates.
Stillwell was sentenced to 10 years — the maximum penalty for the gun charge. But he will receive credit for the two years he’s already served and can serve the balance of the time while on probation.
The duo were both stabbed in separate incidents while jailed during the long-winding trial — with Kendrick getting wounded Sunday and Stillwell last year.
In October, co-defendant and Grammy winner Young Thug — whose given name is Jeffrey Williams — copped a surprise plea deal in the case accusing him of being the ringleader of the YSL gang – or Young Slime Life.
Judge Paige Reese Whitaker sentenced Williams, 33, to 40 years but his sentence was commuted to time served on the condition he complies with the conditions of probation for 15 years. If Williams — who was behind bars for over two years pending the case — violates these terms he must serve 20 years in prison.
The case kicked off in 2022 against 28 defendants, accusing them of being part of the Bloods-connected gang and carrying out various crimes including, murder, armed robbery, drug dealing, carjacking and violence.
Nine of the defendants pleaded out before trial started, another four — including Williams — copped to their crimes during trial, and another 12 still have cases pending. The final defendant had his charges dropped after he was convicted in an unrelated murder case.
The trial is the longest running one in the Peach State’s history and was brought by DA Willis’s office. Jury selection took 10 months and testimony — which featured nearly 200 witnesses — began in November 2023.
The case — brought under racketeering charges — was plagued with problems including a prior judge stepping down from overseeing the case in July after he was accused of misconduct by the defense.
Williams’ lawyer, Brian Steel was held in contempt of court and sentenced to 10 weekends in jail for confronting Judge Ural Glanville.
The state’s top court stepped in to grant Steel bond while he appealed Glanville’s ruling. The judge ultimately recused himself.
Defense lawyers in the case blasted the prosecution’s case which relied heavily on evidence including song lyrics and social media posts to allege they were part of an organized criminal gang.
Kendrick’s lawyer Doug Weinstein, during closing arguments, accused prosecutors of trying to link together random crimes to “see what sticks” but failed to prove they were all part of a criminal enterprise.
He also accused the DA’s office of cherry-picking evidence including social media posts and allegedly unreliable witness testimony while the group were simply using music to lift themselves out of financial struggles and rough upbringings.
Defense attorney Max Schardt admitted his client, Stillwell, had broken the law in the past to survive on the tough streets of Atlanta — rather than trying to advance the goals of the YSL gang.
Prosecutors claimed that any lies witnesses made at trial were because they were speaking in front of people they “snitched on” while their statements to the police were true. The DA’s office also claimed the social media posts and songs helped prove the testimony by showing the defendants were “bragging about murder.”
Willis has come under fire in the past year for her admitted affair with Nathan Wade, whom she hired to lead the prosecution against Trump — which was also brought using racketeering charges.
Willis is also the last hold-out in the four criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump. Two federal cases against Trump have since been dropped by special counsel Jack Smith and Trump’s sentencing in the Manhattan state hush money case has been indefinitely postponed by a judge.
“We always respect the verdict of a jury,” said DA spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said of the YSL verdicts.
