the law

Suspect in Young Dolph’s Murder Testifies That He Shot the Rapper

2021 ONE Musicfest
Photo: Prince Williams/WireImage

A suspect in the Young Dolph shooting case has testified that he was one of the two men who allegedly shot at the rapper, the Associated Press reports. Cornelius Smith has reportedly identified himself and Justin Johnson as the two men in the surveillance footage outside of Makeda’s Butter Cookies in Memphis on November 17, 2021, when the murder took place. Johnson was named a suspect in the shooting in 2022, with Smith being charged shortly after; another man, Hernandez Govan, was also charged later that same year. In court, Smith explained that he and Johnson were both promised $40,000 each by rapper Big Jook to carry out the crime; Big Jook was a musician on Dolph’s rival label, Collective Music Group, and a subject of diss tracks by the late rapper. Johnson’s attorney, Luke Evans, refuted Smith’s confession, telling the jury that Smith was “just trying to save himself.â€

Suspect in Young Dolph’s Murder Testifies He Shot the Rapper