Steel spent most of his comments refuting the most serious allegation, that Young Thug was involved in the murder of Donovan Thomas Jr. Steel addressed the claim that a car used in the murder was rented in Young Thug’s name by explaining that the rapper he often rented cars. to friends in need. Steel says that before the alleged murder, Kenneth Copeland contacted Thug for help. Answering the call, he says, was the extent of Thug’s involvement.

December 10, 2023

Young Thug’s co-defendant Shannon Stillwell, also known as SB or Shannon Bernard Jackson, is stabbed in jail. He survives wounds to his back, stomach and shoulder. Fellow inmate Willie Brown admits to being stabbed and says he took the knife from Stillwell after entering his cell. the judgment is suspended until the new year.

January 3, 2024

YSL member Trontavious Stephens takes the witness stand after accepting a deal with eight years of probation. He identifies himself, Young Thug, and Walter Murphy as the founding members of YSL. He admits that the organization grew out of the Raised on Cleveland street gang, but says it was formed as “a music label; “The music happened first.”

February 20, 2024

Prosecutors reproduce a 911 call made by an anonymous woman, who claims to have heard about a shooting committed by Young Thug. “They came to my house and told me that the guy who shot someone named Young Thug, whoever that is,” he says in the call.

April 4, 2024

Judge rejects a request from Young Thug’s lawyers to have lead prosecutor Adriane Love removed from the case. Brian Steel had objected to her cross-examining witnesses with a series of “Didn’t you tell me?” questions. She says the rhetoric makes her an unsworn witness who should be cross-examined on the stand.

April 8, 2024

More accusations of irregularity by the prosecution. Jurors are shown text messages that a prosecutor’s investigator, Rasheed Hamilton, sent to a witness identified as A. Bennett, who took the stand for the first time in March. One message says: “Call me if you get bored later. “We’re not going to talk about business.” Bennett testified that Hamilton had said he wanted to date her and called her “mom” on multiple occasions. No further action against Hamilton was reported.

July 1, 2024

the judgment is paused indefinitely as several defense attorneys complain that Judge Ural Glanville held inappropriate private meetings with prosecutors and an uncooperative witness. The witness, Kenneth Copeland, also known as rapper Lil Woody, refused to testify and was found guilty of contempt of court. The meetings took place without the defense lawyers’ knowledge, but when Steel found out about them and mentioned it in court, he too was found guilty of contempt for refusing to reveal his source. He received a 20-day prison sentence that was soon overturned. Glanville later released a full transcript of the meeting.

July 15, 2024

Judge Ural Glanville is recused. Judge Rachel Krause, who ruled on the recusal, wrote that while the ex parte meeting was not inappropriate, the recusal was important to preserve “public confidence in the judicial system.” A separate motion seeks to recuse Krause herself from deciding the recusal, due to a $2,000 campaign donation she received from Glanville. Krause denies that motion.

July 17, 2024

Judge Ural Glanville’s replacement, Judge Shukura Ingram, who had been randomly assigned to the case, is recused because his former court aide was in a romantic relationship with Christian Eppinger, one of Young Thug’s co-defendants.

August 12, 2024

The trial resumes with Judge Paige Reese Whitaker in office. Copeland, a key witness, restarts his testimony but answers most questions: “I don’t remember.”

October 23, 2024

Court is adjourned after rapper Slimelife Shawty reads an Instagram post with the hashtag “#FreeQua,” which the state should have removed from its printout, during his testimony. Since the hashtag could bias the jury by implying that Quamarvious Nichols, one of Young Thug’s co-defendants, has been in prison, Nichols’ lawyers are asking for a mistrial. Another defendant who calls himself Qua, Marquavius ​​​​Huey, also requests a mistrial. Judge Whitaker criticizes prosecutors for a series of errors of which this is just the latest. “What I’m trying to do is fix your oversight so that no one has wasted, you know, 10 or 12 months of their lives in this trial,” Whitaker tells prosecutors. “I’m sorry that everyone has, you know, this gigantic, gargantuan universe of evidence that maybe if they narrowed themselves down, they wouldn’t be making these kinds of mistakes.”

October 29, 2024

After the state’s mistake, Quamarvious Nichols accepts a settlement. All but one of the charges against him, including the murder charge, are dismissed, on the condition that he pleads to the RICO conspiracy charge. That includes admitting his involvement in drug possession and distribution, but Nichols categorically denies taking part in the violence. Nichols will serve seven years of a 20-year sentence, adjusted for time served, and the remainder of 13 years on probation. The other Qua, Marquavius ​​Huey, also takes a plea deal. And one more defendant, Rodalius Ryan, also known as Lil Rod, takes a deal and receives a 10-year sentence commuted to time served. He will now fight a separate murder charge in the Georgia Supreme Court.

October 31, 2024

Young Thug pleads guilty and is released from jail.

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