A murder defendant on trial for the 2018 robbery and fatal shooting of an Atlanta wedding guest said he became affiliated with a street gang as a child.
Jayden Myrick, who took the stand Tuesday afternoon and was back Wednesday morning, said under oath that he had ties to YSL and the Nine Trey Gangsters and currently identifies as a member of “4PF.” The 22-year-old touched on his lengthy criminal history while testifying for hours, telling the jury he was groomed by older gang members starting when he was just 9 or 10.
“I was too young to get jumped in,” Myrick told prosecutor Chris Sperry when asked about his ties to the Bloods-affiliated Nine Trey Gangsters. ”But as I grew older I was like family to them.”
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
The case went to the jury late Wednesday afternoon. Check AJC.com for updates.
The prosecutor said he hadn’t planned to question Myrick about certain gang activity, but that the defendant “opened the door” to such questions by bringing up certain topics during his testimony.
Myrick was arrested on July 13, 2018 and charged with three counts of aggravated assault, one count of aggravated battery and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony after Christian Broder was shot outside the Capital City Club in Brookhaven. The charges were upgraded after Broder died on July 20, 2018. He is survived by his wife and daughter, who was 9 months old when her father was killed.
Myrick was also one of 28 defendants, including rapper Young Thug, named this year in a sweeping gang indictment targeting alleged YSL members. Those listed in the indictment face various charges ranging from racketeering to murder. The May indictment accuses Myrick and two other defendants of trying to “shank” rival rapper YFN Lucci in February at the Fulton County jail.
Myrick said he’d met hip-hop artists including Young Thug on numerous occasions, but didn’t accuse them of any wrongdoing.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, is accused of being the leader of “Young Slime Life,” an alleged criminal street gang that Fulton County prosecutors say is responsible for much of Atlanta’s violent crime. His attorneys say YSL is just a music label.
Myrick testified that Young Thug attended one of his previous hearings to show his support.
4PF, which Myrick testified that he’s affiliated with, is the name of artist Lil Baby’s record label. It stands for “Four Pockets Full.” The musician known for his flashy jewelry is frequently seen in public sporting a diamond-encrusted 4PF chain.
“He’s the face of it,” Myrick told Sperry when asked about Lil Baby’s role in 4PF. He also testified that since his arrest, he has spoken to Lil Baby. The artist, whose real name is Dominique Armani Jones, is not named in the YSL indictment.
Myrick denied killing Broder, a 34-year-old restaurant manager who was shot outside the Capital City club. A graduate of Woodward Academy who spent part of his childhood in Stockbridge, Broder was in town for a wedding.
“Christian enjoyed life’s simple pleasures,” his obituary read. “He had an endless supply of ‘dad jokes,’ loved Arsenal soccer and strumming a guitar, and basked in the quiet mornings he spent each day with his daughter, dog, and a pot of black coffee. A sommelier by trade, Christian shared his passion for a good glass of wine with anyone in pouring distance. His kindness, humility, affable nature, and generosity were felt by all those who came in contact with him.”
In addition to his wife and daughter Broder, 34, was survived by his parents, siblings and a dog named Dan.
He was standing outside the venue with his brother and two others when Myrick, 17 at the time, allegedly got out of a stolen dodge Charger and robbed the group of their phones, wallets and purses. As Myrick left, he fired a single shot that struck Broder in the stomach, authorities said. He died at the hospital nearly two weeks later.
From the stand, Myrick denied being there the night Broder was killed and tried to blame an acquaintance for the shooting. But two eyewitnesses, including Broder’s brother, told jurors Myrick was the gunman.
Myrick, who began getting into legal trouble at a young age, passed through every level of Georgia’s juvenile justice system before his murder arrest, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found.
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
After Myrick burglarized a home, a judge sent him to club meetings rather than detention, court filings showed. In a robbery case, another judge set Myrick free after he served two years of his seven-year sentence. Later, a court employee vouched for Myrick, helping him remain free.
In a 2018 interview, Myrick’s mother said supervising her son was sometimes more than she could manage, especially while working full-time to support her other children.
“I was in charge of monitoring him — 24 hours,” Jauvena Myrick said. “I still had to work, and I still have four other kids. It was very hard.”
Following Jayden Myrick’s testimony, Superior Court Judge Rachelle Carnesale said she would issue an order instructing Fulton County jailers to keep the defendant in protective custody.
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