Young Thug, YSL RICO trial: Defendant stabbing causes delay

Young Thug posing with a blank expression, wearing thick-framed glasses and a black vest and white button-up shirt

Dec. 13, 2023 12:59 PM PT

After a co-defendant was stabbed multiple times in Fulton County Jail, the high-profile racketeering and conspiracy trial against Atlanta rapper Young Thug — and several other alleged members of the street gang Young Slime Life — will be delayed until the new year.

Shannon Jackson — also known as Shannon Stillwell — was stabbed multiple times on Sunday during a fight with inmate Willie Brown, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement released Monday. The sheriff’s office said that it is unclear what led to the fight between Brown and Jackson, who were housed in the same zone, and that the latter is now in stable condition.

In a brief hearing on Monday, Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville informed the jury of a “medical issue” with one of the trial’s participants and requested they return to court the following day. Glanville reconvened jurors on Tuesday and informed them that Jackson’s “medical condition still exists” and that they would be released early as a result.

“I’m going to recess you for the holidays today,” he said Tuesday.

Glanville previously told jurors that they would begin their holiday break at the end of proceedings on Friday. The jury is now due back in court on Jan. 2, 2024. The trial is expected to last for months.

Atlanta prosecutors began their trial against Young Thug (birth name Jeffery Lamar Williams) and five defendants in late November. At the center of the trial is Young Thug’s alleged involvement in Young Slime Life, also known as YSL, which prosecutors say is responsible for a string of criminal activities, including homicides, shootings, carjackings and thefts.

A Fulton County indictment filed in May 2022 accused Young Thug and 27 other people of conspiring to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. A followup indictment filed in August 2022 accused the “Best Friend” rapper of participation in criminal street gang activity, as well as drug and gun charges. Young Thug, 32, who was arrested in May 2022, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Young Thug and Stillwell will stand trial along with co-defendants Marquavius Huey, Deamonte Kendrick (a.k.a. rapper Yak Gotti), Quamarvious Nichols and Rodalius Ryan, who is already serving a life sentence for a 2019 murder. They are all charged with violating the state’s RICO laws.

Since the trial began on Nov. 27, jurors have heard opening statements from Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel in defense of his client. Steel cited the musician’s upbringing in a “society that was filled with depression, despair, hopelessness and helplessness” and argued that his client’s stage name and music aren’t what prosecutors made them out to be. He explained that the rapper’s name actually stands for “Truly Humble Under God” and that “Pushin’ P,” the hit song by Future and Gunna that he’s featured on, is actually short for “Pushing Positivity.”

In her opening arguments, Fulton County Deputy Dist. Atty. Adriane Love channeled the opening lines from Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book,” framing Young Thug as the leader of the YSL pack. The prosecution’s witness list includes 400 people, including law enforcement officials, teachers and “members and associates of YSL,” Rolling Stone reported.

Before the trial began, Glanville granted prosecutors permission to use 17 sets of Young Thug lyrics as evidence in its arguments against the rapper and alleged YSL members — a decision that has stirred controversy in the music industry.

The Associated Press reported that the decision goes against the defense attorneys’ argument that lyrics are constitutionally protected speech and would be unfairly prejudicial.

Times staff writer Jonah Valdez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.