Police are said to be investigating a link between rapper Pop Smoke’s murder and a dead body that was discovered inside a barrel that washed up on a Californian beach last month
Police are said to be investigating a possible link between rapper Pop Smoke’s murder and a dead body that was found in a barrel.
Brooklyn-born rapper Pop Smoke, real name Bashar Barakah Jackson, was murdered in 2020 when he was just 20 years of age, with five people arrested in connection with his death at the time. And now reports have said that police are investigating the possible connection of the rapper’s murder with a dead body found on a beach in California just last month.
The barrel, which washed up on a beach in Malibu on July 31, contained the naked body of Javonnta Murphy. TMZ reports that they have learned Javonnta is the brother of one of the five people arrested in the wake of Pop Smoke’s murder. Jaquan Murphy was charged with attempted murder but later cleared, with an 18-year-old since admitting to killing him.
The outlet reports that the man, Jaquan, is “awaiting trial for an unrelated murder in L.A. County”, with them also reporting that a law enforcement source told them that Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators are “currently looking into the possibility Javonnta’s murder was a retaliation killing for Pop’s murder”.