A 15-year-old teenager has admitted to pulling the trigger and killing rapper Pop Smoke.
He made the admission during the testimony of LAPD Detective Carlos Camacho at a preliminary hearing for Corey Walker, a 20-year-old who is another one of the four defendants. Camacho claimed that the 15-year-old told a cellmate at a juvenile detention centre that it was him who took Pop Smoke’s life. The police recorded the interview last May.
“He admitted that he shot the victim three times with a Beretta 9mm,’ detective Camacho allegedly told the court. “They got into a fight, and he shot him three times. He said he shot him on the back.”
The home invasion took place at 4:00am on February 19th, 2020. The group of teens discovered that Pop Smoke was staying at a Hollywood Hills Airbnb after studying his Instagram Stories. In one of the rapper’s uploads, the address was visible on a label next to a wad of cash.
The defendants then reportedly entered the building where the rapper through a balcony on the second story. The gang members then came across a woman staying with Pop Smoke while he was taking a shower. At first, the group threatened the woman’s life. The rapper then handed over his jewellery before attempting to fight back and was then fatally shot.
Pop Smoke’s mother, Audrey Jackson, told The Daily News: “I don’t know what I thought being here would do. I thought something would happen that would help me feel differently. But to hear they kicked him when he was down. It’s so disrespectful and dishonourable.
“There was no honour in this. And the irony in this is that those same kids are the kids he said he made music for. There need to be consequences, sufficient consequences. But as a people, we have work to do. Our children are killing each other. This just makes absolutely no sense to me.”
If Walker is found guilty, he could face the death penalty.
