18-Year-Old Confesses to Killing Pop Smoke

He was one of five people arrested in connection with the 2020 home invasion, and, because he was 15 years old at the time, faced juvenile charges
Pop Smoke
Bashar Barakah Jackson aka Pop Smoke, November 2019 (Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

An 18-year-old who was charged in the death of Pop Smoke confessed to killing the rapper amid a home invasion on February 19, 2020, the Los Angeles Times reports. He further confessed to other charges for home invasion robbery; his name has been withheld from the media because he was 15 years old at the time of the break-in. He was charged in juvenile court, and could remain incarcerated until he turns 25.

Earlier this year, a 20-year-old defendant in the same case pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He was 17 at the time of the shooting and was also charged as a juvenile. Five people were arrested in July 2020, nearly five months after they had broken into the Los Angeles Airbnb where Pop Smoke was temporarily staying. Two men, Keandre Rodgers and Corey Walker, are still facing murder charges in the case, and could face the death penalty if convicted. One more man was arrested but not ultimately charged in connection to the home invasion.