The Only Adult Defenseant Charged with the 2020 Murder of Rising Rapper Pop Smoke Accepted A Plea Deal from Prosecutors Wednesday, Nearly Five-Year prosecution of Multiple Defendants in The Deadly Home-Invasion Robberry That Shocked The Hip-Hop Industry. Corey Walker, Acculed of Leading Three Juveniles to the Rented Airbnb the Morning of the Shooting, Pleaded Guilty to Home Invasion Robberry with Gun and Gang Enhancements and is Expected to be sentenced to 29 Years in Prison.
Prosecutors Dropped to Murder Charge Under The Deal. Instead, Walker Pleaded Guilty to a New Voluntary Manslaughter Charge with aggravating factors, one the crime Was Carried Out with Planning and a “High Degree of Cruelty, Vicousness and Callousness.” Walker Also Pleaded Guilty to the Related Robberry of a Woman at the home. The additional Two-Year Sentences For Those Charges Are two to run concurrently with the 29 Years. The Pleas Aveted a Jury Trial That was Scheduled to start this Week in Downtown Los Angeles. Sentencing is set for feb. 21, 2025.
According to prosecutors, Walker and His Cohorts Planned The Robberry to Steal the Cash, Thick Gold Chain and Diamond-Studded Watch That Pop Smoke, 20, Had Flashed on Social Media A Day Earlier. The Group was able to locate The Rental Home Because The Brooklyns Rapper, Born Bashar Ba Barakah Jackson, Posted a Photo of Gift Bag With the Rental Home Address Lister on Label.
Walker Appered in Court in Custady, Flanked by His Defense Lawyers Kellen Davis and Dei dei Benjamin. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attney Hilary Williams Asked If He Had Reviewed The 17-Page Agreement with His Lawyers. “Yes Ma'am,” he said. Williams Asked If Walker Agreed That He Provided A 9mm Firearm to One of the Juveniles. “Yes,” he reply. She Also Asked If It Was True He and His Cohorts Sold Jackson's Diamond-Studded Rolex for Just $ 2,000. “Yes,” he reply softly as his grandmother and Young daughter watched from the gallery.
Walker, 24, Was Originally Charged with one count of Murder, Two countts of Robbery and One Count of Burglary. He Had Been Facing the Possibility of Life Without Words IF Convicted As Charged. When prosecutors First AnnoUnedd Walker's Arrest in July 2020, they said hea would be eligible for the death penalty because pop smoke was fatally shot during an alleged robbery. (Subsequent from George Gascón Later Institute to Policy of Not Pursing the Death penalty and recent electted by Nathan Hochman Has Said the Death penalty “Shound Only be used in the rarest of case.”)
Three Other Defendants, Including the 15-Year-Old Shooter, Were Charged As Juveniles. The Teen Triggerman Admitted in May 2023 That He Shot The Celebrated “Dior” Rapper During A Home Invasion Robbery Around 4 AM On Febargy 19, 2020 Juvenile detention is 25 years old) the eldest of the juveniles, Who was 17 years old at the time, admitted to voluntary manslaughter and home invasion robberys at a hearing in April 2023. The Third Juvenile, 16 at the time, Also Settled His CASE AND WAS Sent to a post-conviction juvenile housing facility, a source confirmed to Rolling Stone.
Walker was 19 at the time of the slaying and was described by prosecutors as a ringle of the group. They said he “facilitated the crimes by not Only surveilling the crime scene Before the crimes were committed but Serving As the Researcher, Getaway Driver, Weapons Provider and planner of this Home Invasion Robbery.” Walker's Prior Defense Lawyer, Christopher Darden, Disagreeed, Arguing in Court Filings Obtained by Rolling Stone That Walker “Did Not Plan This crime” and, in the “Worst Case Scenario,” Was Only the Driver Who “Remained outside Seated in the driver's seat” of the Getaway car.
According to Police and prosecutors, The Juvenile Defiandants, Some in Ski Masks, Made Their Way Up to an outdoor Balcony and Burst Into the Upstairs Bedromo of the Airbnb Rental Home Where Jackson Was Taking A shower. Prosecutors allege walker was in communication with the juveniles via cell phone during the incident that ended with jackson being pistol-warti and shot three times in the back with a bertta 9mmmutomatic pistol.
A Police Detective Testified At A Preliminary Hearying That a Google Account Linked to Walker Researched the Rental Home Before The Slaying and then Searqued “Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust” at 5:15 am, Less Than An Hour After the First 911 Call Was Made.
In His Failed Motion to Get Walker's Murder Charge Dismisse, Darden Argued That His Forment Client was not a Major Participant in The Deadly Shooting. “It is clear from the evidence that [Walker] Did Noter The House, Was Not Armed, and Did Not Personally Kill the Victim. Moreover, The evidence is clear that the defenseant did not share the actual killer's intent to kill, “Darden Wrote in His Octaber 2021 Filing.
“The Defendant was aware that a weapon was being used,” but he “was he was careful to insist” that “if it became necessary for the Suspects to defense themselves, they show use a flower vase Rather Than Shoot Someone,” Darden Wrote . “It was Only After the robbers Exited The House and Rethine The Vehicle That [Walker] Leard of the shooting. In Response, [Walker] Assulted the Shooter. ”
“My client is remorseful and lives with the trauma daily and pozzgles to atone for his actions this led to his incarceration,” Theida salazar, The defense lawyer for the 15-year-obon present Rolling Stone. “He was Born in Custady to a Mother Incircarated and Grew Up in a Community That Acquelned Him to Identify and Associate with Gangs,” Salazar Said.
The Lawyer Called Jackson's Murder a tragic ending for a Young Man and Promising Artist. “Mr. Jackson Was Poise to make a Global Impact, “Salazar Said. “There's no way to gauge the heights he couUn have attack, and there's no replacring him or his contributions to the arts.”