A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Friday in the 2021 shooting death of rapper Young Dolph during a daytime ambush at a Memphis bakery, according to a district attorney’s office press release and the AP. Cornelius Smith Jr., 36, entered the plea in Memphis court and was sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that dropped other charges, ending remaining courtroom proceedings tied to Dolph’s killing more than four years after it occurred in his hometown.
Prosecutors said Smith and another man, Justin Johnson, were charged with first-degree murder in the November 2021 shooting of Young Dolph at Makeda’s Homemade Cookies, a bakery near the rapper’s childhood home. Young Dolph, whose legal name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was killed at the shop near his home after authorities said two men exited a white Mercedes-Benz and began shooting at him.
Authorities said Young Dolph died after being shot about 20 times, citing a medical examiner’s report. After the killing, the bakery became a memorial, and Dolph was also honored at a Memphis Grizzlies game; murals of him were painted around the city, and the city named a street after him.
Smith previously testified in the trial of Johnson, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2024 after Smith named him as the second shooter. Johnson later received additional sentences tied to the same case, including life in prison for two other convictions stemming from the trial: conspiracy to commit murder and possession of a gun as a felon.
The AP report also said Smith testified in a separate proceeding involving Hernandez Govan, who was acquitted in August of charges prosecutors said involved organizing the killing. In the Johnson trial, a prosecutor told jurors that a rival record label—Cocaine Muzik Group, later described as Collective Music Group and founded by Yo Gotti—wanted Young Dolph to work for it, but he turned the offer down.
Prosecutors’ theory in the Dolph case portrayed the killing as revenge connected to rap diss tracks, including an alleged feud that involved Anthony “Big Jook” Mims. The report said prosecutors portrayed the murder as part of an effort by Mims to get revenge on Young Dolph for diss tracks aimed at Big Jook and the record label Mims helped run for his brother, Yo Gotti.
The report said Smith testified that Big Jook put out a $100,000 hit on Young Dolph and also smaller bounties on the artists at Young Dolph’s record label, Paper Route Empire. Smith testified in that case that, “I didn’t know anything about Paper Route having no hits,” until Govan told him about the label’s alleged “hits,” and Smith said Govan hired him to “do the hits” and that Govan was going to take $10,000 as his cut.
According to the AP, Big Jook was shot and killed outside a restaurant in January 2024, and no arrests have been made in his death; he was never charged in Young Dolph’s killing.
Young Dolph’s death stunned the entertainment world, the report said, and was treated as another killing of a prominent rap artist in their prime. The rapper began his career releasing mixtapes, later putting out albums including his 2016 debut “King of Memphis,” and he collaborated with artists including Key Glock, Megan Thee Stallion, T.I., Gucci Mane and 2 Chainz; the AP report said three of his albums reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with “Rich Slave” peaking at No. 4 in 2020.