FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — In 2015, someone shot and killed 26-year-old Donovan 'Nut' Thomas Jr. outside of an Atlanta barbershop.
At least four alleged members of YSL were charged with his murder: Deamonte Kendrick and Shannon Stillwell — who are currently on trial with Jeffery "Young Thug" Williams" — as well as Javaris Bradford and Demise McMullen.
"We just thought when he was born, he was just a cute little peanut, and that name just grew with him," his mother, Shawonna Edmond, told jurors in May. "He was moving toward the music industry... he was talking about artists."
Instead, she buried her youngest son and father of two on January 17, 2015.
Law enforcement told the New York Times that Thomas was a high-ranking member of a Bloods subset known as the Inglewood Family.
State prosecutors hoped witness Kenneth Copeland, better known as Lil' Woody, would help build their case in court.
"Do you recall how many people back in January 2015 that you asked whether or not you should go down and talk to the police that night of Donovan Thompson's murder?" Assistant District Attorney Simone Hylton asked on Monday.
"I never take people's advice," Woody replied. He maintained that anything he told the police in 2015 was likely a lie to protect himself.
But that didn't stop state prosecutors from asking him dozens of questions related to his interviews with police about the murder of Donovan Thomas and other crimes.
"Did you kill Donovan Thomas, Mr. Copeland?" Hylton asked on Monday.
"Huh?" Woody replied.
"Did you kill Donovan Thomas, Mr. Copeland?" Hylton asked again.
"Huh?" Woody replied.
"Did you kill Donovan Thomas? Are you shaking your head? Is that a no?"
"No," Woody finally answered.
That afternoon, he shifted the blame to one of his late friends.
"What happened to Nut got nothing to do with YSL," Woody said. "This has everything to do with Threat, not me. I was trying to protect Threat from the get-go."
But, he denied knowing whether Threat had anything to do with the murder an hour and a half later.
"I don't know what Threat got something to do with, but I know that was the last person I gave that car to," he said.
On Wednesday, prosecutors began playing recordings of Woody's initial interviews with police. They hope jurors will consider those in their verdict.
