The YSL Case

The YSL Case: YSL Members Shank Fellow Inmate As Jury Selection Stalls

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The YSL Case: YSL Members Shank Fellow Inmate As Jury Selection Stalls

Christian Eppinger, Rodalius Ryan, and Damone Blalock, defendants in the blockbuster Fulton County trial of Young Thug and the alleged “Young Slime Life” criminal organization, have been accused of stabbing a fellow inmate at the county jail, where they are being held. At the same time, the jury is selected for their trial.

On Tuesday night, deputies responded to a commotion surrounding inmate Demarcus Bussey. When the deputies attempted to disperse the crowd, Eppinger allegedly stabbed Bussey in the upper left chest with a handmade “shank.” Bussey was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Eppinger and Ryan have been charged with aggravated assault, and Blalock has been charged with misdemeanor battery in connection with this incident. All three men have also been accused of misdemeanor willful obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

Eppinger has been charged with shooting an Atlanta police officer six times in February 2022 when the officer attempted to serve an arrest warrant on him. Ryan and Blalock are both serving life in prison for separate murders.

Ryan has already been charged in two additional incidents that have delayed the jury selection. Last week he was accused of spitting on a Fulton County investigator while being driven from the jail to the courthouse. His counsel after that filed a complaint alleging the use of excessive force on Ryan at the time of this incident, claiming he was punched in the head and dragged out of the van. Ryan and Blalock have also been charged separately with unauthorized possession of contraband by an inmate, and Blalock was charged with giving an inmate a prohibited item.

After more than a month of jury selection in this large and unwieldy case, not a single juror has yet been seated.   This is primarily because the trial is scheduled to last six to nine months, and virtually every potential juror will experience legitimate hardship is made to serve. However, the frequent incidents involving the YSL defendants are not helping move the process along.

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The YSL Case: Perc Passing Points to Rocky Start for Young Thug

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Even though the jury has not yet been selected, there has been no shortage of drama in the trial of Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, and his YSL associates. 

Last week one of Williams’ associates, Kahlieff Adams, was caught on camera walking up to Williams, where he sat in court, and handing him a package of Percocet in what prosecutors describe in their motion as a “hand-to-hand drug transaction.” Prosecutors further claim that Williams closed his hand around the package and moved it beneath the table to conceal it.  

Deputies from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office observed these actions, took the Percocet from Williams and confronted Adams.   The prosecutors say that Adam was searched and found to be carrying Percocet, marijuana, tobacco, and other contraband “wrapped in plastic and food seasonings to mask the odor of the marijuana.” 

Adams was later taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.  Prosecutors claim that he had swallowed some of his contraband to hide it.  The defendants’ lawyers have argued this was because courtroom deputies used a taser on him.  

The prosecutors then filed a motion seeking that the record reflects that Williams’ and Adams’ conduct caused a delay in the trial – in other words, asking the judge to make a finding of fact that these events had occurred and that Williams and Adams were responsible.   One of the defendant’s attorneys filed a response, which said that after Adams had been taken back to the holding cells, those in the courtroom could hear “loud banging and yelling” coming from that area. Two officers had removed their belts and firearms and rushed back to the holding area.   The defendants’ attorneys claim that Adams had to go to the hospital because he had been tased several times. They have urged the judge to deny the prosecution’s motion containing its version of the events and appoint an independent law enforcement agency to investigate.

Adams is currently serving a life sentence without parole for a 2019 murder and is being charged with attempted murder in the current case.

Williams was not charged for this incident, after his lawyers argued that he didn’t know what Adams was giving him and that he had immediately handed it over to the authorities.  However, Adams faces additional charges for possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, willful obstruction of law enforcement, possession of marijuana, and possession of an alcoholic beverage by an inmate. 

This is the third instance of contraband smuggling into the courtroom during this trial.  Last week, the mother of defendant Deamonte Kendrick, known as Yak Gotti, was arrested for trying to smuggle in rolling papers and tobacco for her son.   Additionally, Judge Ural Granville has reportedly said in court that someone else had tried to smuggle in marijuana for one of the defendants, hidden in a pair of shoes.

Although jury selection has been ongoing for nearly three weeks, no jurors have been seated.  This trial will likely keep making sensational headlines for months to come. 

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