One of the four men charged in the killing of rapper Pop Smoke during a robbery at a Hollywood Hills mansion pleaded guilty on Thursday to voluntary manslaughter.
The 20-year-old man, who was 17 when the killing occurred, also pleaded guilty in Inglewood juvenile court to home invasion robbery. He was sentenced to four years and two months in a juvenile facility.
The judge has barred the public use of his name because he was a minor at the time of the shooting.
The shooting of Pop
The 20-year-old New York rapper, whose legal name is Bashar Barakah Jackson, was killed on Feb. 19, 2020, at a rented home where he was staying while on a four-day trip to Los Angeles. A 911 call from a friend of someone in the house reported armed intruders inside the home, police said.
The robbers knew the address because a day earlier, Pop Smoke, had posted a photograph on social media of a gift bag he had received and the address was on a label, authorities said.
Smoke was in the shower when masked robbers confronted him. So during a struggle, one attacker, who was 15, pistol-whipped the rapper and shot him three times in the back, according to court testimony cited by the Los Angeles Times.
The attackers stole Jackson’s diamond-studded Rolex watch and sold it for $2,000, a detective testified.
Three other defendants, two juveniles and Corey Walker are also charged. But have not yet stood trial.
By Wanjiru Mbaru