Rapper Pop Smoke's murder 'linked to dead body found in barrel on Malibu beach'
Police are said to be investigating a possible link between rapper Pop Smoke's murder and a dead body that was found in a barrel.
Brooklyn-born rapper Pop Smoke, real name Bashar Barakah Jackson, was murdered in 2020 when he was just 20 years of age, with five people arrested in connection with his death at the time. And now reports have said that police are investigating the possible connection of the rapper's murder with a dead body found on a beach in California just last month.
The barrel, which washed up on a beach in Malibu on July 31, contained the naked body of Javonnta Murphy. TMZ reports that they have learned Javonnta is the brother of one of the five people arrested in the wake of Pop Smoke's murder. Jaquan Murphy was charged with attempted murder but later cleared, with an 18-year-old since admitting to killing him.
The news of Pop Smoke's death was announced in 2020 (Getty Images)The outlet reports that the man, Jaquan, is "awaiting trial for an unrelated murder in L.A. County", with them also reporting that a law enforcement source told them that Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigators are "currently looking into the possibility Javonnta's murder was a retaliation killing for Pop's murder".
Although they did add that this is "not their only theory" but affirmed that they are "digging into" it.
Double killer who slit girlfriend's throat within weeks of release jailed
Pop Smoke was shot and killed in February 2020 during a Hollywood Hills robbery. At the time he was renting a house through Airbnb which was owned by The Real Housewives star Teddi Mellencamp and her husband, Edwin Arroyave. In the early hours of the morning, five hooded men broke into the house held a gun to a woman's head and threatened to kill her, with the woman then hearing the men shoot Pop Smoke three times after an altercation.
The rapper was only 20 years of age when he was murdered (WireImage)
The rapper was staying at an Airbnb at the time (Instagram)Within six minutes police had arrived at the scene to find Pop Smoke with multiple gunshot wounds. He was then rushed to hospital where doctors performed a thoracotomy on the left side of his chest, but mere hours later he was pronounced dead.
On July 9, 2020, five months after the rapper's murder, three adult men and two minors were arrested. One adult was charged with murder with a special circumstance, while another was charged with attempted murder. Meanwhile the two juveniles were charged with murder and robbery in juvenile court.
Reports say that Pop Smoke was murdered over his Rolex watch, with the youngest of the intruders - who was 15 at the time - allegedly admitting this to his cellmate and then testifying in a preliminary hearing, as per Daily Mail. And as per Los Angeles Times, the same man, who was 18 in May, admitted to the killing.
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