The interminable trial of Jeffery Williams — Young Thug — in Atlanta has again veered off the highway, after a high-profile witness at the center of the case was arrested on the stand after refusing to testify. Kenneth “Lil’ Woody” Copeland, a YSL associate whose leaked interrogation tape last year left him labeled as a snitch, has long been anticipated as a witness for the state, but his appearance in court Friday came with only a day’s public notice. Prosecutors previously said he had been threatened as a high-profile witness.
According to Atlanta police testimony and case documentation, a rival gang member from the YFN set of the Atlanta Blood Gang robbed Copeland at a nightclub in south Atlanta in January 2015. That robbery turned a simmering dispute between Williams’ YSL crew and YFN into a shooting war that started with the drive-by murder of Donovan “Nut” Thomas a few days later, witnesses said. Prosecutors argue that Williams rented a car at Copeland’s behest, and that this car was used in that drive-by shooting.
Proving that Williams knew the car would be used in the crime is central to the state’s racketeering and gang case against the rapper. “His credibility is the crux of this case. He’s the lynchpin of the case,” said Max Schardt, a defense attorney representing Shannon Stillwell, one of the six remaining defendants in the racketeering and gang case.
Stillwell is accused of murdering Thomas, among other crimes. Copeland said he was pl.
