2 men, 2 boys charged in Los Angeles death of rising rapper Pop Smoke
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two men and two teens have been charged in the death of rising rapper Pop Smoke who was killed during a Los Angeles home-invasion robbery in February, the district attorney’s office said Monday.
Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement that Corey Walker and Keandre Rodgers were charged with murder that occurred during the commission of a robbery and burglary. The two boys, 15 and 17 years old, were also charged with murder and robbery while in juvenile court. Their names were not released due to their age.
The
20-year-old New York rapper, whose legal name is Bashar Barakah
Jackson, was killed Feb. 19 at a home in the Hollywood Hills. A 911 call
from a friend of someone in the house reported armed intruders inside
the home, police previously said.
Walker, 19, and Rodgers, 18,
face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of
parole if convicted. Both are expected to be arraigned Monday.
Jaquan Murphy, 21, was also arrested in connection to the incident last week. The complaint includes gang and gun allegations.
Capt.
Jonathan Tippet, who oversees the Los Angeles Police Department’s elite
Robbery-Homicide Division, said three men and two teenage boys likely
went to the home because they knew Pop Smoke was there from social media
posts. They stole items from the home, though Tippet said he could not
divulge what was taken.
All five are believed to be members of a
South Los Angeles gang, which Tippet would not name, and at least some
of them are believed to be linked to a 2019 homicide when a fight
escalated into a shooting outside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Authorities did not initially believe the rapper’s death was related to a robbery. The home where the shooting occurred is owned by Edwin Arroyave and his wife, Teddi Mellencamp, a star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and the daughter of Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer John Mellencamp.
Teddi
Mellencamp previously said on Instagram that the couple had been
notified of the shooting at their rental property but knew no more than
what they had seen in media reports.
Pop Smoke arrived on the rap
scene in 2018 and broke out with “Welcome to the Party” a gangsta anthem
with boasts about shootings, killings and drugs that became a huge
sensation, and prompted Nicki Minaj to drop a verse on a remix.
Earlier
this year, Pop Smoke released the mixtape “Meet the Woo 2,” which
debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. It was the
follow up to his first official release, “Meet the Woo.” The rapper also
had the popular hit “Gatti” with Travis Scott and Jackboys and “Dior.”
His
major label debut album, “Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon,” which
was executive produced by 50 Cent, recently topped the Billboard Top 200
albums charts. It was released posthumously July 3 to mostly positive
reviews and features appearances from popular artists including Future,
DaBaby and Quavo.
Pop Smoke had been scheduled to start a U.S. tour in Washington, D.C., on March 2.