Pop Smoke Killed by Teen Wanting Rapper’s Diamond-Studded Rolex, LAPD Detective Testifies
Pop Smoke was shot and killed last February in a Los Angeles rental home by a 15-year-old who was part of a group trying to steal the 20-year-old rapper’s diamond-studded Rolex, according to a detective who testified in the case on Friday.
The teenager, who is the youngest member of the group of four suspects who are being prosecuted in the Feb. 19, 2020 murder and robbery case, confirmed he had shot Pop Smoke (né Bashar Barakah Jackson) during a recorded interview with a cellmate at a juvenile detention center last May, according to Los Angeles Police Department detective Carlos Camacho.
“He admitted that he shot the victim three times with a Baretta 9 (mm.),” Camacho said at a preliminary hearing for Corey Walker, another one of the four defendants in the case, according to the New York Daily News. Walker pleaded not guilty in the case.
The teenager accused of shooting Pop Smoke “admitted that they asked for the jewelry” and then had “a confrontation” with the rapper, Camacho said. The juvenile suspect’s name has not been disclosed.
“They got into a fight, and he shot him three times,” Camacho testified. “He said he shot him on the back.”
The detective said the suspects were also trying to steal Pop Smoke’s Cuban link chain, but were only able to take the Rolex, which he said they resold for $2,000.
Public testimony in the case of Jackson’s death began Thursday, with LAPD detectives saying the four suspects were part of the same same gang. According to the detectives, the suspects learned the rapper was staying at an Airbnb rental in the Hollywood Hills from his Instagram account, where they read the address off a gift bag label in a photo that included a large amount of money.
Rapper Pop Smoke Was Shot by 15-Year-Old Over Diamond-Studded Rolex: Detective
Pop Smoke Allegedly Killed By A 15-Year-Old During Fight Over A Rolex
This past February marked one year since the hip-hop world was shocked by the news of Pop Smoke’s shooting death. The Brooklyn-born rapper was killed during a home invasion at a Hollywood Hills mansion he was renting at the time. Following an investigation, four suspects were taken into custody last July and each charged with one count of murder and robbery in juvenile court as they were all under the age of 21 at the time of their arrest.
Now, according to the New York Daily News, we now know which of the suspects was responsible with shooting. During a preliminary hearing for 20-year-old Corey Walker, the only adult in the case, LAPD Det. Carlos Camacho testified that Pop Smoke was killed by a 15-year-old teen.
“He admitted that he shot the victim three times with a Baretta 9 [mm.],” Camacho said. The detective also revealed that the group of suspects broke into the rapper’s mansion in hopes of stealing his Cuban link chain but only managed to get away with a diamond-studded Rolex watch, which they later sold for $2,000.
Camacho added that during a recorded jail interview, the 15-year-old “admitted that they asked for the jewelry” before engaging in “a confrontation” with the rapper during the home invasion. “They got into a fight, and he shot him three times,” Camacho said. “He said he shot him on the back.” The detective also said Pop Smoke fought back and “rushed” the suspects who “pistol-whipped” him before shooting him in the chest.