Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s sprawling racketeering trial of the star rapper Young Thug and his alleged compatriots in the Young Slime Life gang, which has dragged on to become the longest in Georgia’s history, finally came to an end on Tuesday morning after the jury acquitted the two remaining defendants on charges relating to murder and gang activity.  

The jury found Deamonte Kendrick — best known by his rap name, “Yak Gotti” — not guilty on all charges related to the killing, in 2015, of Donovan Thomas Jr., known as “Big Nut,” who prosecutors claimed was a member of a rival gang. The second defendant, Shannon Stillwell, was convicted on only one charge for possession of a firearm and will serve his sentence on probation. 

“We always respect the verdict of a jury,” a spokesman for Ms. Willis, Jeff DiSantis, stated. 

The verdict, which is sure to disappoint the prosecution, comes just a few weeks after the rapper at the center of the case, Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, managed to avoid more jail time after pleading guilty to six gun and drug related charges and no contest to charges relating to racketeering and leading a street gang. Williams was sentenced to time served plus 15 years of probation. Before and during his trial, he had been locked up in various Atlanta area jails for more than 900 days. 

In 2022, Williams, along with two dozen other defendants, was charged by the state with ruthlessly presiding over a murderous street gang in South Atlanta known as YSL, or Young Slime Life. Williams, who was painted by the prosecution as the leader of the gang, had been kept in jail without bond since he was arrested. His defense, however, previously contended that he was just a rapper and that YSL was the name of his record label, YSL Records, and stood for “Young Stoner Life.” Defense attorneys also told the jury that “thug” stood for “Truly Humble Under God.”

Tuesday’s verdict brings an end to a highly criticized trial that has drawn press attention for its soap-opera-like twists and turns including the arrests of a juror and a lawyer, the stabbing of a defendant, elicit romance, and others. Kendrick, according to his lawyers, was stabbed and injured in jail over the weekend. Nearly a year prior, his co-defendant, Stillwell, was also stabbed inside of the jail. 

It also marks a major blow to Ms. Willis, who was using Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, known as RICO, to prosecute Williams and the 27 others for their participation in the Atlanta-based street gang. The same racketeering law is at the center of her case against President Trump for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election. That case has been thrown into chaos due to the disclosure that Ms. Willis was in a romance with her chief deputy. An appeals court is currently considering if she should be thrown off that case.

The Young Thug trial caught heat from celebrities like Drake, and Meek Mill, as well as politicians, like a Georgia lawmaker, Mesha Mainor, who warned last month that both the YSL and Trump trials could end up “as complete disasters.” The prosecution was heavily criticized for using the defendants’ rap lyrics as evidence of supposed crimes. They also brought tattoos and social media postings as indications of gang activity. 

The trial, which began in 2022, is the longest in Georgia’s history. It took ten months alone just to pick the jury, with testimony only beginning in November of 2023. Nine of the defendants took plea deals before the trial began and four pleaded guilty in October. While the ongoing trials have ended, believe it or not, there are still 12 defendants pending charges.