Police charged two adults and two teens with the murder of rapper Pop Smoke after an invasion of his Los Angeles home last February.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement that Corey Walker and Keandre Rodgers were charged with a murder that occurred during the commission of a robbery and robbery. Two teens, ages 15 and 17, were also charged with murder and robbery while in juvenile court. The names of the last two were not disclosed due to their age.
A LAPD spokesperson previously confirmed to Fox News last week that multiple search and arrest warrants were issued throughout the Los Angeles area on Thursday morning, all related to the death of the 20-year-old aspiring rapper, whose real name it was Basha Barakah Jackson.
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The late rapper was reportedly in a Hollywood Hills, California home around 4:30 a.m., when two men with masked faces broke into and fired multiple shots, law enforcement sources told TMZ at the time. . Various media reported that the rapper was killed during the home invasion incident.
Four people have been charged with the death of rapper Pop Smoke.
(Claudio Lavenia / Getty Images)
Walker, 19, and Rodgers, 18, could face the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if convicted. The charge reading for both men has been postponed until Tuesday.
Jaquan Murphy, 21, was also arrested in connection with the incident last week. The complaint includes accusations of gangs and weapons.
Capt.Jonathan Tippet, who oversees the Los Angeles Police Department’s elite robbery and murder division, said three men and two teens likely went to the house because they knew Pop Smoke was there from social media posts. Items were stolen from the house, although Tippet said he could not divulge what he took.
All five are believed to be members of a South Los Angeles gang that Tippet would not name, and at least some of them are linked to a 2019 homicide when a fight turned into a shooting outside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
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Authorities initially did not believe the rapper’s death was related to a robbery. The house 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 Fame member John Mellencamp.
Teddi Mellencamp previously said on Instagram that the couple had been notified of the shooting at their rental property, but did not know more than they had seen in media reports.
Aspiring rapper Pop Smoke died in an invasion incident at his home in February.
(Claudio Lavenia / Getty Images)
Pop Smoke hit the rap scene in 2018 and burst with “Welcome to the Party,” a gangsta anthem boasting of shootings, murders, and drugs that became a huge sensation and prompted Nicki Minaj to release a verse on a remix. .
Earlier this year, Pop Smoke released the mixtape “Meet the Woo 2,” which debuted at number 7 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart. It was the follow-up to their first official release, “Meet the Woo.” The rapper also had the popular hit “Gatti” with Travis Scott and Jackboys and “Dior”.
Their debut debut album, “Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon,” which was produced by 50 Cent, recently topped the Billboard Top 200 album charts. It was released posthumously on July 3 to mostly positive reviews and features appearances by popular artists including Future, DaBaby and Quavo.
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Pop Smoke was scheduled to begin a U.S. tour in Washington, DC, on March 2.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
