Pop Smoke Murder: Final Defendant’s Trial Delayed After Plea Negotiations Fall Through
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The only adult defendant charged with the 2020 murder of rising rapper Pop Smoke appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom Friday and had his trial date pushed to early August after plea negotiations with prosecutors broke down. The trial for Corey Walker previously was scheduled to start next week.
“Negotiations fell through, but there’s still a possibility we’ll come to an agreement,” lawyer Deion Benjamin, who’s representing Walker with co-counsel Kellen Davis, tells Rolling Stone. “A few things need to be ironed out. If they don’t get resolved, we’ll go to trial.” The trial, now set to kick off with jury selection on August 6, is expected to last three and a half weeks.
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At a hearing in May, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams told the court that a deal from prosecutors had been in the final stages. “We are very close to a disposition in the case at this point. I received some information from my office asking the court, before we go through with final plea, to get a little more time,” Williams said last month. Details of the deal were not disclosed. Williams declined to comment Friday.
Walker, 23, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of burglary. When prosecutors first announced his charges four years ago under a prior district attorney, they said that because Pop Smoke was fatally shot during an alleged robbery, Walker would be eligible for the death penalty. (New DA George Gascón later instituted a policy of not pursing the death penalty.) If convicted as charged at trial, Walker could receive life in prison.
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 born Bashar Barakah Jackson during a home invasion robbery around 4 a.m. on February 19, 2020. The eldest of the juveniles, who was 17 years old at the time, admitted to voluntary manslaughter and home invasion robbery 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. The three are expected to be held until they turn 25 years old.
Walker was 19 at the time of the slaying. Prosecutors have 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, disagreed, 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 defendants, some in ski masks, made their way up to an outdoor balcony and burst into the upstairs bedroom 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-whipped and shot three times in the back with a Beretta 9mm semiautomatic pistol.
A police detective testified at a preliminary hearing that a Google account linked to Walker researched the rental home before the slaying and then searched “Rolex oyster perpetual datejust” at 5:15 a.m., less than an hour after the first 911 call was made. Prosecutors allege the robbers stole Jackson’s diamond-studded Rolex and eventually sold it for $2,000.
In his failed motion to get Walker’s murder charge dismissed, Darden argued that his former client was “not a major participant” in the deadly shooting. “It is clear from the evidence that [Walker] did not enter the house, was not armed, and did not personally kill the victim. Moreover, the evidence is clear that the defendant did not share the actual killer’s intent to kill,” Darden wrote in his October 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 defend themselves, they should use a flower vase rather than shoot someone,” Darden wrote. “It was only after the robbers exited the house and reentered the vehicle that [Walker] learned of the shooting. In response, [Walker] assaulted the shooter.”
Prosecutors said Walker and his cohorts planned the home invasion to steal the cash, thick gold chain and diamond-studded watch that Jackson, 20, had flashed on social media a day earlier. The robbers allegedly found the home because Jackson posted a photo of a gift bag with the address listed on a label.
“My client is remorseful and lives with the trauma daily and struggles to atone for his actions that led to his incarceration,” Theida Salazar, the defense lawyer for the 15-year-old shooter recently told Rolling Stone. “He was born in custody to a mother incarcerated and grew up in a community that compelled him to identify and associate with gangs.” Salazar said his client ” takes responsibility for his actions and vows not to repeat them.”
The lawyer called Jackson’s murder a “tragic” ending for such a young man and promising artist. “Mr. Jackson was poised to make a global impact,” Salazar said. “There’s no way to gauge the heights he could have attained, and there’s no replacing him or his contributions to the arts.”
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