Trial in daytime ambush of rapper Young Dolph 3 years ago to begin in Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Young Dolph grew up riding his bike and playing basketball in a Memphis, Tennessee, neighborhood and later built a rap career that included ownership of an independent music label, Paper Route Empire.
He became beloved locally for his charitable works: donations to local high schools, paying rent and covering funeral costs for others, Thanksgiving turkey giveaways.
He was in Memphis to hand out turkeys to families at a church when a visit to his favorite cookie shop near his childhood home turned into an event that shocked the city and the entertainment world. Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was gunned down in a daylight ambush on Nov. 17, 2021.
Nearly three years later, a trial in the 36-year-old rapper's killing is scheduled to begin Monday. Justin Johnson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and is scheduled to face a jury from the Nashville area after a defense attorney argued that intense media coverage and social media attention would make it hard to seat a jury from Memphis.
Another man, Cornelius Smith Jr., also was charged with first-degree murder. He is not scheduled for trial on Monday, said his lawyer, Michael Scholl. Smith also has pleaded not guilty.
Young Dolph's family and friends have been patiently awaiting a trial and are praying for justice for the father of two children, said Carlisa Brown, his older sister.
“We want everyone involved to get what they deserve,” she said in a phone interview. “It was a very senseless murder.”
On the day the rapper was shot, two men got out of a stolen Mercedes-Benz and fired shots into Makeda’s Homemade Cookies before fleeing, authorities say. As they searched for the suspects, police released photos taken from surveillance video that captured two men getting out of a Mercedes and firing into the store.
After more than a month on the run, Johnson was captured in January 2022 in Indiana. Smith was arrested on an auto-theft warrant involving the Mercedes.
Authorities have not released a suspected motive. Two other men also have been charged in the shooting.
Hernandez Govan has pleaded not guilty to organizing the killing. Jermarcus Johnson pleaded guilty in June 2023 to three counts of serving as an accessory after the killing by helping Smith and Justin Johnson, his half-brother.
Jermarcus Johnson acknowledged helping the two shooting suspects communicate by cellphone while they were on the run from authorities and helping one of them communicate with his probation officer. Jermarcus Johnson has not been sentenced.