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   From: rupert.mudduck@infinity.net   
      
   MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Memphis man testified on Monday that he   
   and a second person shot and killed rapper Young Dolph after Big   
   Jook, the brother of rapper Yo Gotti, put a hit on him.   
      
   Cornelius Smith identified himself and Justin Johnson as the two   
   people seen on a Nov. 17, 2021, surveillance video exiting a   
   white Mercedes outside a Memphis cookie store about 30 seconds   
   after Young Dolph entered the store and then opening fire in   
   broad daylight.   
      
   Smith was testifying in the first day of Johnson’s trial on   
   charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and being a   
   felon in possession of a gun.   
      
   Smith also faces murder and conspiracy charges. Johnson’s   
   attorney, Luke Evans, told the jury in opening statements that   
   they should not trust Smith’s testimony because he was just   
   trying to save himself. Johnson is innocent, Evans said. Photos   
   of him wearing clothes like the person in the video do not mean   
   he is same as person, Evans said.   
      
   Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman, in opening statements,   
   said Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was   
   determined to make it on his own as an artist, and also with his   
   own label, Paper Route Empire.   
      
   “Trying to make it on your own can create enemies,” Hagerman   
   said.   
      
   He noted that Yo Gotti-founded rival record label Cocaine Muzic   
   Group (now known as Collective Music Group) and wanted Young   
   Dolph to work for them, but he turned them down. Young Dolph   
   later wrote diss tracks directed at the label, its artists, and   
   its “number two person,” Big Jook.   
      
   Young Dolph had survived previous shootings. He was shot   
   multiple times in September 2017 after a fight outside a Los   
   Angeles hotel. In February of that year, his SUV was shot at in   
   Charlotte, North Carolina, more than 100 times. The incident was   
   the inspiration for the song “100 Shots.” He said he survived   
   because he had bulletproof panels in his vehicle.   
      
   Big Jook, whose real name was Anthony Mims, was shot and killed   
   outside a restaurant in January 2024, according to media reports.   
      
   Smith, who said he was shot in the arm and the leg by Young   
   Dolph’s brother, Marcus Thornton, as he fled the cookie store   
   shooting testified that he received only $800 prior to his   
   arrest. He said his attorney was later paid another $50,000 by   
   Big Jook.   
      
   Asked by Hagerman how he felt after shooting Young Dolph, Smith   
   said, “I wasn’t feeling nothing at the time. I’m not gonna lie.   
   I was trying to get some money.”   
      
   Smith testified that his young son had died a few months before   
   and he had started “popping pills and not caring about nothing.”   
   His conscience started bothering him only later after he sobered   
   up in jail, he said.   
      
   Jermarcus Johnson pleaded guilty in June 2023 to three counts of   
   serving as an accessory after the killing by helping Smith and   
   Justin Johnson, his half-brother.   
      
   Jermarcus Johnson acknowledged helping the two shooting suspects   
   communicate by cellphone while they were on the run from   
   authorities and helping one of them communicate with his   
   probation officer. Jermarcus Johnson has not been sentenced.   
      
   Hernandez Govan has pleaded not guilty to organizing the killing.   
      
   Young Dolph began his career by releasing numerous mixtapes,   
   starting with 2008's “Paper Route Campaign.” His multiple studio   
   albums include his 2016 debut “King of Memphis.” He also   
   collaborated on other mixtapes and albums with fellow rappers   
   Key Glock, Megan Thee Stallion, T.I., Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz and   
   others.   
      
   He had three albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with   
   2020's “Rich Slave” peaking at No. 4.   
      
   ___   
      
   Travis Loller contributed to this report from Nashville, Tenn.   
      
   https://ktla.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-memphis-man-testifies-   
   that-he-and-another-man-killed-rapper-young-dolph/   
       
      
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