Hitman who gunned down rapper Young Dolph gets 20 years for $100K killing that nearly tore a major city apart

A perp has pleaded guilty to gunning down rapper Young Dolph in a broad daylight ambush outside his favorite cookie shop in Memphis four years ago — a killing that nearly tore the city apart.Cornelius Smith Jr., 36, was slapped with a 20-year sentence on Friday over the rapper and music label owner’s execution in 2021, prosecutors said.Smith and another gunman, Justin Johnson, had initially been charged with first-degree murder for opening fire on the rapper — whose real name was Adolph Robert Thornton Jr.— outside Makeda’s Homemade Cookies near his childhood home in a working-class neighborhood.As part of his plea deal, Smith copped to a second-degree murder instead after serving as the main witness at his co-accused’s 2024 trial.

Young Dolph, who was 36, grew up in Memphis and was known for his charitable work across the city.He had returned home to hand out turkeys to local families for Thanksgiving when he was ambushed.The two gunmen were spotted jumping out of a white Mercedes-Benz before firing dozens of rounds at the rapper, according to prosecutors.

Young Dolph ended up being struck 20 times, the medical examiner said.During his trial, Smith confessed he was hired to carry out the hit and was going to get roughly $100,000 in exchange.Following Young Dolph’s murder, supporters and friends swarmed the area where he was shot.

Local officials openly discussed imposing a curfew on the city of 610,000 people to prevent revenge killings and further violence.Prosecutors had argued the murder was orchestrated by another music bigwig — Anthony “Big Jook” Mims — after Young Dolph had apparently released diss tracks about him and the record label he helped run for his brother, rapper Yo Gotti.Big Jook, who was never charged in Young Dolph’s slaying, was shot and killed outside a restaurant in early 2024.As part of Smith’s plea deal, prosecutors dropped several other charges against him.His co-accused ended up being jailed for first-deg...