Pop Smoke’s Killer Receives Four-Year Sentence after Guilty Plea

On Thursday (April 6), one of the four men involved in the death of Pop Smoke was sentenced to prison, according to Billboard. Entering a guilty plea for voluntary manslaughter and home invasion robbery, the 20-year-old will serve four years and two months in a juvenile facility in Inglewood, California.

Considering he committed the crime as a 17-year-old in early 2020, the man will serve in juvenile instead of a standard prison, and the judge did not allow for his name to be made public. However, the other three men involved in slaying the at-the-time blossoming New York rapper still have not met their fate.

Corey Walker and Keandre Rodgers, who were 19 and 18 years of age at the time of the crime, still have not been sentenced. The same goes for a second young man who was also a minor in 2020.

Pop Smoke, whose birth name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, was found dead on February 19, 2020, after a confrontation with the aforementioned group of men. Invading his rented house in Los Angeles, the four individuals robbed and shot Jackson after a face-off inside the premises. Police believe they found Jackson’s location because of a post he made on social media revealing his whereabouts.

At the time, Pop Smoke was less than two weeks removed from his breakout second mixtape Meet the Woo 2, which included guest verses from Quavo, Gunna, NAV, Lil Tjay, Fivio Foreign, and more. Following his death, Pop Smoke’s estate put out his debut studio album in the summer of 2020. Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon officially arrived on July 3 of that year, and was executively produced by 50 Cent, an icon in Pop Smoke’s hometown.

Three years later, the story of Pop Smoke is still too fresh of a wound for some fans. With an immeasurable amount of potential, Pop Smoke was set to pioneer the sound of New York drill rap that has instead been led by acts like Ice Spice and Fivio Foreign. Although posthumous releases momentarily ease the pain, it has become abundantly clear that Pop Smoke was an irreplaceable voice in the modern hip-hop landscape.

(Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)