A third man has been arrested in connection with the execution-style murder of Memphis rap legend Young Dolph.
Dolph, real name Adolph Thornton, was gunned down by two masked men while buying cookies at a Memphis bakery shop on November 17. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Police arrested Cornelius Smith, 32, on December 9. He was charged with theft of the getaway vehicle, a white Mercedes Benz, found abandoned behind a home that was used as the backdrop in a rap music video.
Police believe Smith (pictured) is the gunman seen wearing a Bass Pro Shops hat in surveillance video outside the cookie store.
On January, 5, Smith was extradited to Shelby County from Southaven, Mississippi. He will make his first court appearance in Memphis on Thursday, Jan. 13.
The second gunman, aspiring rapper Justin Johnson, aka “Straight Drop,” was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Indiana on Wednesday, Jan. 12.
A third suspect, Shundale Barnett, 27, was arrested along with Johnson in Indiana. Barnett (pictured below) is charged with being an accessory after-the-fact to first-degree murder for helping Johnson while he was on the run from the law.
“Shundale Barnett is a person who, we believe, was providing assistance to Justin since we’ve been looking for him,” said U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller at a press conference in Memphis on Wednesday.
Detectives are also investigating links between the gunmen and two local rappers, Mario Mims, aka Yo Gotti, 40, and Sammie Benson, aka Blac Youngsta, 31, as potential co-conspirators in Young Dolph’s death.
