Four people have been charged with the murder of rapper Pop Smoke, who was gunned down at a Hollywood Hills home in February.
Corey Walker, 19, Keandre Rodgers, 18, and two unnamed minors were charged with murder on Monday, according to a press release from the office of Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey. The minors, aged 17 and 15, were each charged with one count of murder and robbery in juvenile court.
Because the crime took place during a robbery and burglary, Walker and Rodgers, both legal adults, could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted, according to the DA’s office. The accusations against them also involved gun and gang activity.
Walker and Rodgers are expected to be arraigned today at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. A decision on capital punishment will be made at a later date which has not yet been set.
The news of the charges comes after five people — three men and two minors– were arrested in connection with the rapper’s killing last week. The fifth person, who LAPD identified at the time as Jaquan Murphy, was not brought up on charges to do with the rapper, but instead was charged in connection with an unrelated murder, according to a spokesperson for the DA’s office.
Pop Smoke, a 20-year-old artist whose legal name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, was shot on Feb. 19 when a number of masked men broke into a Hollywood Hills home he was renting at the time. When police arrived at the scene, they discovered Jackson with gunshot wounds. He later died at the hospital.
The rapper’s album “Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon” was posthumously released on July 3.