5 arrested in LA gang-related shooting of rapper Pop Smoke, police say
Three men and two juveniles have been arrested in connection with the February home-invasion death of rising rapper Pop Smoke in Los Angeles, police said Thursday.
Police have released the names of three of the five suspects arrested in the killing of rapper Pop Smoke and say they are gang members who are also responsible for a fatal shooting at the Rose Bowl last year.
The suspects are identified as Corey Walker, 19, of Los Angeles; Jaquan Murphy, 21, of Los Angeles; and Keandre D. Rodgers, 18, of Los Angeles. The other two are juveniles and their names were not released.
The 20-year-old New York rapper, whose legal name is Bashar Barakah Jackson, was killed Feb. 19 at a home in the Hollywood Hills.
Investigators say the suspects entered the rented home around 4 a.m., fatally shot Pop Smoke and robbed the house.
They were described as members of a Los Angeles street gang who are also linked to the murder of Kamryn Stone, 18, at the Rose Bowl parking lot in Pasadena on Sept. 14, 2019.
At the time, that incident was described as occurring after a fight. A 51-year-old Los Angeles man was also wounded in the shooting.
The adult suspects were arrested Thursday and are being held on $1 million bail.
The home where the shooting occurred is owned by Edwin Arroyave and his wife Teddi Mellencamp, daughter of Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer John Mellencamp and a star of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."
Teddi Mellencamp previously said on Instagram that the couple had been notified of the shooting at their rental property but knew no more than what they had seen in media reports.
Pop Smoke's rise to fame came last summer with the hit song "Welcome to the Party."
He was one of five rappers New York police prevented from performing at the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival in Queens last October because they were "affiliated with recent acts of violence citywide."
Pop Smoke's death comes the same week he earned his first top 10 spot on Billboard, for his second mixtape, "Meet the Woo, V.2." It was the follow up to his first official release, "Meet the Woo," last July.
The rapper had been scheduled to start a U.S. tour in Washington, D.C., on March 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
