Man Pleads Guilty To Helping Orchestrate Shooting Of Young Dolph

On Friday, a Tennessee man pleaded guilty to helping orchestrate the fatal shooting of rapper Young Dolph outside a Memphis bakery in 2021.

Jermarcus Johnson, 26, admitted to helping two other men carry out the murder. He pleaded guilty to three counts of accessory after the fact. Judge Lee Coffee approved his plea deal with prosecutors, which will allow him to avoid trial. He could also testify at a future trial in the November 2021 killing of the late rapper, the Associated Press reported.

Johnson is the first of four defendants to plead guilty or be convicted in the Young Dolph shooting. The 36-year-old rapper, formally known as Adolph Thornton, was buying cookies in his hometown of Memphis when he was gunned down by two men who arrived at the bakery in a stolen Mercedes Benz, authorities said.

Johnson acknowledged helping the two shooting suspects communicate by cellphone while they were on the run from authorities and helping one communicate with his probation officer.

During questioning by prosecutor Paul Hagerman, Johnson identified a photo in which shooting suspect Justin Johnson, who is also his half-brother, was wearing the same clothing as one of the two shooters accused of gunning down Young Dolph.

Hagerman did say that Jermarcus Johnson had no role in the actual killing of Young Dolph, but he was one of the “multiple players” involved in the murder.

Jermarcus Johnson was initially charged with the more serious offense of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder because he helped Justin Johnson communicate with the other suspect, Cornelius Smith, the indictment reads.

But Jermarcus Johnson’s lawyer, Josh Corman, says his client was an unwilling participant who was dragged into the aftermath of the killing. “Sometimes it’s one of those lessons of, you have to be careful who you know and who you associate with,” Corman said. “In this case, it was a half-brother of his who showed up to his apartment one day and had a phone and a car.”

Justin Johnson and Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder. The fourth man accused in the indictment, Hernandez Govan, who is accused of arranging the killing, also has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Justin Johnson and Smith are being held in jail. Govan was given a $90,000 bond based on safety and health issues and remains on house arrest.

As for Johnson, he faces six to 12 years in prison at sentencing at a later date.