A choose on Friday (July 14) set a trial date for 2 males charged within the killing of rapper Younger Dolph in a daytime ambush at a bakery in Memphis, Tennessee.
Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith are scheduled to face trial March 11 within the deadly taking pictures of the Memphis-born rapper, Shelby County Felony Courtroom Choose Lee Espresso mentioned throughout a listening to.
Johnson and Smith have pleaded not responsible to costs together with first-degree homicide within the November 2021 taking pictures of Younger Dolph, whose actual identify was Adolph Thornton Jr. A motive for the killing has not been disclosed.
The 36-year-old rapper, label proprietor and producer was shopping for cookies close to his boyhood dwelling in Memphis when he was gunned down by two males who drove as much as the bakery in a stolen Mercedes Benz, authorities mentioned. The slaying rattled Memphis and shook the leisure world.
Two different males have been charged within the killing.
Jermarcus Johnson, the half brother of Justin Johnson, pleaded responsible June 9 to a few counts of accent after the very fact, and he may testify on the trial.
Jermarcus Johnson acknowledged that he helped the 2 suspects talk by cellphone after the killing whereas they had been on the run from authorities, and that he helped one in every of them talk together with his probation officer after the killing.
Throughout questioning by prosecutor Paul Hagerman, he additionally acknowledged taking possession of automobile from Justin Johnson. The automobile was not the one tied to the killing, Hagerman mentioned. Jermarcus Johnson additionally recognized a photograph wherein Justin Johnson was sporting the identical clothes as one of many two shooters accused of gunning down Younger Dolph the day the rapper was killed.
After Jermarcus Johnson’s plea listening to, Hagerman mentioned he had no function within the precise killing of Younger Dolph, however that he was one in every of “a number of gamers” who did issues linked to it.
One other man, Hernandez Govan, has pleaded not responsible to first-degree homicide and conspiracy within the case. He’s accused of arranging the killing. Govan has been launched on bond.
Younger Dolph was identified in Memphis for his charitable works and his success as an unbiased musical artist and businessman. Younger Dolph had been within the metropolis to go to a sick relative and hand out Thanksgiving turkeys at a church when he was killed.
After his loss of life, Memphis named a avenue after him and the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA honored him throughout a recreation. Murals of the rapper have been painted across the metropolis and a pop-up museum that includes him was opened earlier this 12 months.
The bakery, Makeda’s Home made Cookies, turned an impromptu memorial website for the slain rapper. It was closed for months after the taking pictures, however has since reopened.
