Pop Smoke, one of the music industry’s most promising rappers, has been gone for over a year and a half. In an attempted heist gone awry, the Brooklyn native was shot and killed during a home invasion in a Hollywood mansion he rented. Corey Walker and Keandre Rodgers, who were 19 and 17 years old at the time of their arrests, as well as a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old whose identities were not released owing to their juvenile status, were arrested for the horrific murder.
Walker’s trial is ongoing, almost a year after their arrests, and the court shared a major decision on Tuesday. According to video given by The Shaderoom, the prosecutor for the case, Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams, indicated that if Walker is convicted, the highest punishment he may receive is life without parole, avoiding the death penalty for the now 20-year-old defendant.
The reason could be that he was not the individual who pulled the trigger on Pop Smoke. The defendant who was 15 years old at the time allegedly confessed to being the triggerman in the murder during a recorded interview at a juvenile detention center in May 2020. “He admitted that he shot the victim three times with a Baretta 9 (mm.),” LAPD Detective Carlos Camacho said during a preliminary hearing for Walker. He added that the teenager “admitted they asked for the jewelry” from the rapper before ending up in a “confrontation” that led to shots being fired.
In other Pop Smoke news, the late rapper’s second posthumous album will be released on July 16. The self-titled album includes 17 tracks, including the previously released “Outro.”
