By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH
A 24-year-old man pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and two counts of home-invasion robbery Wednesday in connection with the 2020 fatal shooting of rapper Pop Smoke in the Hollywood Hills.
Corey Walker, who was 19 at the time of the killing, faces 29 years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 21. He could have faced life in prison without the possibility of parole if he had been tried and convicted on the original charges, which included murder, robbery and burglary.
Pop Smoke, whose real name was Bashar Jackson, was found mortally wounded at a short-term rental home at 2033 Hercules Drive in the Hollywood Hills on Feb. 19, 2020. He was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Walker was one of four people — and the only adult — arrested and charged in connection with the killing. The other three defendants were all charged in juvenile court, and their names were withheld due to their ages.
In 2023, one of the juvenile defendants, who was 15 at the time of the killing, admitted a first-degree murder charge in juvenile court, along with an allegation he personally discharged a handgun. He also admitted a home-invasion robbery count, and he was expected to remain held in a juvenile facility until he turns 25.
He could not be charged as an adult due to his age at the time of the crime.
Another juvenile defendant admitted one count each of voluntary manslaughter and home-invasion robbery, and the third admitted a charge of home-invasion robbery.
Walker’s former attorney, Christopher Darden, argued at a hearing in 2021 that Walker never went inside the house that night and remained in a vehicle. But Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams countered during the hearing that Walker had scouted the house hours earlier.
Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Steve Lurie said the 911 call that brought police to the Hercules Drive address came from someone on the East Coast who said a friend’s home was being broken into by multiple suspects, and that one of them was armed with a handgun.
“When officers arrived there approximately six minutes later, they discovered a victim inside the house had been shot,” Lurie said at the time. “They called the fire department, who arrived and transported that victim to Cedars-Sinai, where he was pronounced dead.”
The suspects were wearing masks and were last seen running from the home and possibly getting into a nearby vehicle. The four were taken into custody just under five months later.
Pop Smoke released an album in July 2019, and one of the songs, “Welcome to the Party,” was considered by some the song of the summer. Nicki Minaj did a remix of the song a few months later.
The rapper also collaborated with Travis Scott on a song called “Gatti.”
Pop Smoke was named top new artist, top rap artist and top male rap artist at the Billboard Music Awards in May 2021, while his “Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon” won top rap album and top Billboard 200 album.
The rapper’s mother, Audrey Jackson, accepted the top Billboard 200 album award on her late son’s behalf, saying then that she wanted to “thank the fans for honoring the life and spirit of my son so much that he continues to manifest as if he were still here in the flesh.”
“He created music for the kid who has to sleep four in a room, the kid who has to figure out how to get to school each day so he can graduate and make his mom proud,” she added. “He did this so that 14-year-olds would not have to kill to prove that they are somebody. That is the irony in this.”
According to various media reports, the New York rapper posted photos earlier on the day of the killing or late the night before from a party at the home, even revealing the address. According to TMZ, one of the photos showed a person holding a large sum of money.