Suspect Admits to Shooting Rapper, Cleaning Up Car

On the opening day in the murder trial of Young Dolph in Memphis on Monday, Cornelius Smith, one of the main suspects, admitted to shooting the celebrated rapper, whose legal name was Adolph Thornton Jr., The Commercial Appeal reports.

In February 2022, Smith and co-defendant Justin Johnson pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. The alleged mastermind of the murder, Hernandez Govan, also pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and denied arranging the slaying. The fourth man charged in the case was Johnson’s half-brother, Jermarcus Johnson, who pleaded guilty in June to three counts of being an accessory after the fact. Prosecutors claimed Jermarcus accepted a car and cellphone from Justin following the killing to help him escape Memphis amid a manhunt.

On Monday, Smith told the court he and Justin were promised $40,000 each, while Govon was set to receive $20,000. The outlet reported that Shelby County prosecutors alleged that Big Jook, Yo Gotti’s older brother who was fatally shot in Memphis on Jan. 13, 2024, put a $100,000 hit on Thornton.

Smith stated that Johnson picked him up and that they followed Thornton after spotting his camouflaged-wrapped Corvette. When Thornton arrived at the parking lot outside Makeda’s Cookies near Memphis International Airport where he was killed, Smith claimed he “couldn’t tell you how many times I shot (Thornton).”

Smith told the court that Young Dolph’s brother Marcus Thronton shot him in the arm and leg, while Johnson’s back was grazed by a bullet. Smith said they then drove a white Mercedes to a home in Orange Mound and left it in the driveway, then drove another vehicle to a South Memphis apartment where they cleaned their wounds and changed their clothes. He said that he later went back to the Mercedes to clean the car.

According to The Commercial Appeal, when Smith was asked about his payment, he said he received $800 before his arrest.

Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office and reps for Smith and Johnson did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s requests for comment.

Thornton was born in Chicago and moved to Memphis with his parents when he was a toddler. He released his first mixtape, Paper Route Campaign, in 2008, the year he turned 23. He earned his first Top 40 entry with a feature on the O.T. Genasis platinum-selling hit “Cut It.” He later released his 2016 debut album, King of Memphis.

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The rapper, who was killed at the age of 36, was a beloved fixture in his hometown community and mentored other local artists through his independent label, Paper Route Empire, also known as PRE.

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