On Thursday, an LAPD detective disclosed new information regarding Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke’s death, saying he was in the shower when masked men stormed in.
The detective testified that one of the intruders allegedly pressed a gun to the forehead of a woman who was with Pop Smoke in his bedroom. The other intruders rushed into the bathroom, Det. Christian Carrasco stated.
“Shut the f–k up. Do you want to die?” the heavily armed home invader allegedly shouted at the woman, the investigator said.
The detective was the first person to go on the stand at the preliminary hearing for Corey Walker, the only adult suspect in connection with the rapper’s death.
Walker, 20, faces murder and robbery charges for the Feb. 19, 2020 murder of the rapper formally known as Bashar Barakah Jackson. Walker pled not guilty to the charges and appeared in court Thursday.
The woman who was with Pop Smoke spoke to the police following the killing.
“She heard a struggle coming from the shower area and heard Mr. Jackson screaming. Mr. Jackson ran out of the bathroom, and then she heard a loud pop and [heard] Mr. Jackson fall to the ground,” the detective said.
“Two other individuals began to kick him,” Carrasco said, citing the woman’s testimony.
Pop Smoke’s mother, Audrey Jackson, attended the hearing and became visibly upset upon hearing the news that her son was kicked and stared intently at the suspect as the detective continued to give his testimony.
“Mr. Jackson gets up and run downstairs. She hears two more pops,” the detective said on the witness stand. “She follows Mr. Jackson, sees him on the ground and screams for Michael (Durodola) to call 911.”
The witness also told police she believed the suspects stole Pop Smoke’s “large gold watch” and other jewelry before fleeing the scene.
Another LAPD detective got on stand to say that the license plate of the Infinity captured on surveillance delivering the suspects to the scene traced back to Walker.
Walker allegedly bought the car from a seller and had been stopped in it for an unrelated matter before the murder.
The planned two-day hearing in the murder case is expected to cover the testimony prosecutors consider sufficient to convince a judge Walker should face trial. The other suspects have been identified as minors.
