ATLANTA — The trial involving rapper Young Thug and the alleged YSL street gang continues Wednesday morning in Atlanta, after a day spent focused on attorneys making arguments related to motions.
The trial began in November, following a nearly yearlong jury selection process, and is expected to stretch into much of 2024. Court typically begins at 10 a.m. -- 11Alive will stream proceedings.
One of the motions up in court Tuesday concerned whether a 911 call, in which a neighbor named Young Thug as the shooter in a 2013 shooting, will be allowed in the trial as evidence.
Testimony had continued during proceedings on Monday before court diverted to the motions on Tuesday.
Expert witnesses, detective and a former resident of Cleveland Avenue were among those to testify on Monday.
More on the Young Thug, YSL trial
Back on May 9, 2022, the hip-hop world was jolted with the news that rapper Young Thug - a Grammy winner, trendsetter and Atlanta icon - had been arrested.
It's been nearly two years now that the artist, whose legal name is Jeffery Williams, has remained behind bars. The central charge against him is that three letters with which his name has become synonymous because of his artistic success in launching the "Young Stoner Life" label, YSL, actually signalize a violent gang: Young Slime Life.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis named Williams, among other metro Atlanta rappers and those with ties to the alleged gang, to bring charges against a total of 28 people in a sweeping 88-page indictment. And the case alleges that not only is Young Thug among the gang's members, he is its kingpin.
"He is the one they're all afraid of," a prosecutor said at a June 2022 hearing. "He's the one that's King Slime."
A long pretrial process passed to an even longer jury selection process, and across this time the co-defendant list dwindled with plea deals and other circumstances keeping some of the individuals charged from remaining on the case.
The trial finally began in earnest in November 2023, already considered the longest in Georgia's history.
Now that is in full swing, 11Alive is keeping track of key developments in the case and highlighting moments in the courtroom. Follow along in the timeline below.
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