The guilty plea of Cornelius Smith Jr. to second-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of rapper Young Dolph brings an end to the courtroom proceedings that followed the ambush killing of a celebrated Memphis artist. Smith, who entered the plea Friday under an agreement that dismissed remaining charges, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said. The resolution caps a tangled legal saga that saw one conviction, one acquittal, and a hip-hop community still reckoning with the violence that cut short a life deeply woven into the city’s fabric.
Young Dolph, born Adolph Thornton Jr., was fatally shot on Nov. 17, 2021, while visiting Makeda’s Homemade Cookies, a shop near his childhood home in a working-class Memphis neighborhood. Authorities said two gunmen exited a white Mercedes-Benz and opened fire, striking the 36-year-old rapper roughly 20 times. The cookie store, a frequent stop for the artist, was transformed into a memorial after his death. The city later named a street in his honor, and murals of the rapper appeared across Memphis. The Memphis Grizzlies paid tribute during a game, and social media overflowed with messages celebrating his music and his devotion to the place that raised him.
Smith, who was charged alongside Justin Johnson with first-degree murder, became a pivotal witness in the case. During Johnson’s 2024 trial, Smith testified that both men took part in the shooting. Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and being a felon in possession of a gun, and was sentenced to life in prison. Smith also testified at the trial of Hernandez Govan, who prosecutors alleged organized the killing. That jury, however, acquitted Govan of all charges, leaving prosecutors without a conviction against the man they said had engineered the hit.
Prosecutors have described the murder as an act of revenge orchestrated by Anthony “Big Jook” Mims, a figure in Memphis’s rap scene who helped run the record label Collective Music Group for his brother, rapper Yo Gotti. According to trial testimony, Big Jook placed a $100,000 bounty on Young Dolph and smaller bounties on each of the artists signed to Young Dolph’s own label, Paper Route Empire. The animus, prosecutors said, stemmed from diss tracks Young Dolph had released targeting Big Jook and Yo Gotti’s label, as well as the label’s frustration after Young Dolph declined an offer to work with them.
Smith testified that he learned of the bounties from Govan, who allegedly offered to hire him to carry out the attacks and would take a $10,000 cut. But the jury in Govan’s case was unconvinced that he had orchestrated the murder. Big Jook himself was shot and killed in January 2024 outside a Memphis restaurant; no one has been arrested in that case, and he was never charged in Young Dolph’s death.
Young Dolph’s legacy extends well beyond the circumstances of his death. A fiercely independent artist, he built his career through a string of mixtapes before releasing his debut studio album, “King of Memphis,” in 2016. He collaborated with stars such as Megan Thee Stallion, Gucci Mane, T.I., and 2 Chainz and saw three of his albums reach the top 10 of the Billboard 200, with 2020’s “Rich Slave” peaking at No. 4. He was also known throughout Memphis for his philanthropy: on the day he was killed, he was in the city to distribute Thanksgiving turkeys to families in need.
The guilty plea from Smith, the second man directly tied to the shooting, leaves the music industry to continue grieving a figure whose independence and hometown loyalty set him apart. The courtroom battles may be over, but the loss that reverberated from a cookie shop in South Memphis endures.