18-year-old confesses to fatally shooting Pop Smoke

An 18-year-old man has confessed to fatally shooting the late rapper Pop Smoke during a home invasion in 2020.

• READ MORE: Pop Smoke – ‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon’ review: Brooklyn rapper’s posthumous debut matches rising star’s ambition

The man, whose identity has been withheld by a court order due to him being a juvenile at the time of the incident, also confessed to other charges for home invasion robbery. He was charged in juvenile court and, according to the Los Angeles Times, is expected to be held in a state juvenile facility until he is 25 years old.

The confession comes after a 20-year-old man who had also been charged over the shooting pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in April. As he was a 17-year-old minor at the time of the 2020 shooting, the man also faced juvenile court in Inglewood, and was sentenced to four years and two months in a juvenile facility.

Two other men, Keandre Rodgers and Corey Walker, are still facing murder charges in the case. If convicted, they could face the death penalty. Five people in total were charged in July 2020 in relation to the incident. One of those suspects was arrested but ultimately not charged.

Pop Smoke – real name Bashar Jackson – was killed in a rented Hollywood Hills home during a home-invasion robbery in February 2020. He was 20 years old. The group allegedly invaded the rapper’s Airbnb rental in Los Angeles with the aim of stealing his diamond-studded Rolex watch and Cuban link chain. They ended up stealing the watch, which they are alleged to have resold for $2,000 (£1,405).

There was an outpouring of tributes from the hip-hop community following Jackson’s death, with Joey Bada$$, Pusha T, 50 Cent, Fivio Foreign and more paying their respects. Jackson’s debut album, ‘Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon’, was released posthumously in 2020. A second posthumous album, ‘Faith’, arrived the following year, featuring appearances from Rick Ross, 21 Savage, Takeoff, Future, Dua Lipa, Pharrell, Kid Cudi, Quavo and more.

Earlier this month, producer Rico Beats, who was Jackson’s co-manager alongside Steven Victor, and produced several tracks on 2021’s ‘Faith’, responded to fans asking for more posthumous music to be released. “Who said he had music left?” the producer told a fan who messaged him asking for an update on Jackson’s unreleased music.

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