Young Dolph Murder Suspect Captured in Indiana
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A suspect in the November shooting death of rapper Young Dolph in Memphis was captured Thursday afternoon in Indiana, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The suspect, Justin Johnson, had been named as a person of interest Jan. 5 and a reward had been offered at that time for information leading to his arrest. Johnson — an aspiring rapper who used the name Straight Drop — had posted on his Instagram account over the weekend that he was innocent and would be turning himself in Monday, but had failed to do so, according to news accounts.
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A second suspect, Cornelius Smith, 32, was already in custody and has been indicted on first-degree murder charges. Smith was arrested in Mississippi Dec. 9.
“After a coordinated investigation by the U.S. Marshals Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force and the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, Justin Johnson was captured today around 3:00 p.m. (C.S.T.) in Indiana,” said a press release from the Marshals Service late Tuesday.
More information will be released in a press conference on Wednesday, officials said.
Young Dolph, legally known as Adolph Thornton Jr., was killed by masked assailants while he was visiting his Memphis store, Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, on Nov. 17. Surveillance footage captured the shooters emerging from and getting back into a getaway car.
Johnson’s previous record includes having pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault after shooting three people at a bowling alley in 2017, but he is reported to have been released from prison not long after that conviction.
TMZ had previously reported that Straight Drop, aka Johnson, had released a music video for his song “Going Straight In” that included footage shot at the same home where the getaway car from Young Dolph’s murder had been located by police. The music video was uploaded Nov. 21, four days after the killing.
“Turning myself in Monday,” Johnson had posted on Saturday. “I’m innocent. I’ll be back sooner than you can blink.”
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