Two adults and two teens were charged with murder on Monday in the shooting death of rapper Pop Smoke inside a Hollywood Hills home earlier this year.
Prosecutors said Corey Walker, 19, and Keandre Rodgers, 18, killed the rapper in the course of a burglary at a multi-million dollar home on Hercules Drive in February, according to a press release issued by the US attorney’s office. Los Angeles County District.
A 17-year-old and a 15-year-old defendant were also charged with murder and robbery in a juvenile court, according to prosecutors. Their identities were withheld due to their age.
Los Angeles police arrested three adults and two teens in connection with the shooting last week. Los Angeles police initially identified a third adult suspect, Jaquan Murphy, but has not been charged with the death of Pop Smoke. Captain Jon Tippet, who heads the LAPD’s Robbery and Homicide Division, said Murphy would face murder charges and attempted murder in a series of unrelated shootings that took place in South Los Angeles earlier this year.
The district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to questions about Murphy. It was not immediately clear if any of the accused had an attorney.
The rapper, whose legal name is Bashar Barakah Jackson, stayed at the luxury home in February. Just before 5 am on February 19, several men broke into the home. Jackson was shot during an indoor confrontation and died at a local hospital. Police detained several people inside the house the morning of the attack and said that at least four had fled the scene.
Several times in recent years, Los Angeles houses rented by musicians have been the target of home invasions, investigators previously reported to The Times. Investigators say the rapper may have inadvertently posted a picture of the home’s address on social media before he was killed.
Pop Smoke was previously linked to the Crips street gang, according to Tippet, who said last week that the suspects arrested in the shooting had ties to a local street gang.
Tippet did not identify the gang in question, although prosecutors filed additional charges against Walker and Rogers based on their alleged affiliation with the gang.
Times Times editor Richard Winton contributed to this report.
