18-Year-Old Confesses To Killing Pop Smoke

An 18-year-old who was charged in the death of Pop Smoke has confessed to killing the rapper during a fatal home invasion, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

The man also confessed to home-invasion robbery and alleged discharge of a firearm, in addition to the first-degree murder of the musician.

Pop Smoke, whose real name was Bashar Jackson, was killed on February 19, 2020, after a group of people, including one wearing a mask and armed with a handgun, broke into the Element rapper's rental home in Hollywood Hills. 

Earlier that day, Pop Smoke had shared an Instagram post that revealed the rental's address.

According to the publication, the 18-year-old, whose name has been withheld as he was just 15 at the time of the murder, and his fellow assailants claim to have "burst into Jackson’s bedroom and confronted him in a shower, where the 15-year-old boy pistol-whipped the rapper and shot him three times in the back". 

They also stole Jackson’s diamond-studded Rolex watch, which they sold for $2,000. 

Five months after the murder, five people were arrested in July 2020. Two men, Keandre Rodgers and Corey Walker, are still facing murder charges and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Earlier this year, a 20-year-old defendant in the case pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He was charged as a juvenile as he was 17 at the time of the murder.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge J. Christopher Smith told the now-18-year-old and his 19-year-old co-defendant that the Brooklyn rapper had “lost his life over no good reason.”

“You have no right to take somebody’s life. You have no right to take somebody’s property,” Smith said, according to City News Service.

The 18-year-old was charged in juvenile court and could remain incarcerated until he turns 25.