FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — As attorneys bring the first week of testimony in the trial against alleged criminal street gang Young Slime Life and rapper Young Thug, prosecutors attempted to connect a crime from 10 years ago to the group.
Channel 2′s Michael Seiden was in the Fulton County courtroom on Thursday when prosecutors introduced new evidence trying to link a 2013 carjacking to YSL and its members.
Melissa Rosser was the first person to testify on the second day of the testimony in the case.
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According to her testimony, Rosser had just finished a shift as a house mom at the Pink Pony strip club one night. When she was getting ready to pull into her Newnan neighborhood, she was rear-ended.
“As I looked up, I saw someone in his car rising up and he was running around me,” she testified.
She says the man took off in her car, which was later recovered at an Atlanta apartment complex where two undercover officers waited to see who was driving it.
But defense attorneys had an issue with the undercover officer’s testimony, especially when he started talking about gang signs.
“I was driving myself and my partner, and then they immediately began throwing the gang signs and yelling at us,” Captain Reginald Pettis said.
Pettis was one of two undercover officers who arrested Trontavious Stephens after he pointed a gun at them.
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Prosecutors say Stephens and Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, are co-founders of YSL.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Keith Adams pushed back against those claims.
“You didn’t charge him with any gang offense?” Adams asked.
“No sir,” Pettis responded.
“Did you charge anyone with any gang offense on that night? You didn’t mention any gang activity in your report, did you?” Adams questioned.
“No,” Pettis said.
Stephens, also known as Tick, was initially charged in the same indictment Williams and five others are currently being tried on, but he struck a plea deal last December with prosecutors admitting he pulled a gun on Pettis.
As part of his plea deal, Stephens could be called on to testify on behalf of the state.
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