Suspect in Young Dolph murder case says he shot the rapper

A suspect in the Young Dolph shooting case has testified that he was one of the two men who allegedly shot the rapper, AP News reports. Cornelius Smith reportedly identified himself and Justin Johnson as the two men on surveillance footage outside Makeda's Butter Cookies in Memphis on Nov. 17, 2021, when the murder occurred. Johnson was named a suspect in the shooting in 2022, and Smith was charged shortly afterward; another man, Hernandez Govan, was also charged later that year. In court, Smith stated that he and Johnson were each promised $40,000 by rapper Big Jook to carry out the crime; Big Jook was a musician on Dolph's rival label Collective Music Group and the subject of diss tracks by the late rapper. Johnson's attorney, Luke Evans, refuted Smith's confession, telling the jury that Smith was “just trying to save himself.”