The defendant will spend four years and two months in juvenile hall.
A 20-year-old man has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and home invasion robbery stemming from the February 2020 death of rapper Pop Smoke.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the defendant entered the guilty plea in juvenile court on Thursday, with the outlet reporting the defendant admitted to entering a mansion in the Hollywood hills as a teenager with the intention of robbing Pop Smoke, who was fatally shot. The home where the shooting occurred was owned by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Teddi Mellencamp, daughter of musician John Mellencamp.
Following his guilty plea, the defendant was sentenced to four years and two months in juvenile hall. The judge, however, warned the defendant he could remain in custody until he was 25. The defendant has already served nearly three years behind bars since his arrest, and The Times reports the judge declined to apply the time he's already spent behind bars toward his sentence.
Three others charged in the rapper's death -- 15- and 17-year-olds at the time of the homicide, and a 19-year-old -- have yet to stand trial.
Pop Smoke, whose real name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, was a rising star at the time of his death. The Brooklyn native was shot and killed after authorities said the four suspects entered the Hollywood Hills mansion in masks and robbed the rapper before fatally shooting him.
According to The Times, the defendant who pled guilty pistol-whipped the rapper and shot him three times in the back. The suspects made off with the rapper's Rolex and sold it for $2,000. The outlet also reported that the defendant orchestrated the deadly attack, with prosecutors saying he scouted the mansion and helped recruit others to take part.
Just over a year after his death, Pop Smoke's mom emotionally accepted his five posthumous Billboard Music Awards, including for Top New Artist. Pop Smoke was also the subject of 50 Cent's Hip Hop Homicides series.
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