JUSTICE

Man Charged in Pop Smoke’s Killing Pleads Guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter

The rapper was on a trip to Los Angeles when the defendant, along with two other men, broke into his vacation rental and shot him three times in the back.

One of the four men charged in the killing of rapper Pop Smoke during a 2020 break-in has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and home invasion robbery in Southern California. The defendant, whose identity has not been released because he was just 17 at the time of the shooting, will spend four years and two months in a juvenile facility. The “Welcome to the Party” rapper, whose legal name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, was staying at a vacation rental on a four-day trip to Los Angeles when the defendant, along with two other men, broke into the home, accosted Jackson in the shower, and pistol-whipped him before shooting him three times in the back. Jackson, who was from Brooklyn, was seen as a rising star in the drill rap scene before his death at the age of just 20.