Man found dead in barrel may be linked to Pop Smoke's murder

Publish date: 2024-08-14

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Authorities are investigating whether the man whose naked body was found stuffed in a barrel at a Florida beach was killed in retaliation for the 2020 murder of Brooklyn-born rapper Pop Smoke.

The victim, identified as Javonnta Murphy, a 32-year-old singer-songwriter from Sylmar, California, was killed with a gunshot to the head, according to an autopsy report.

His naked body was discovered inside a sealed 55-gallon drum floating in the water off Malibu Lagoon State Beach on July 31.

Murphy was the older brother of Jaquan Murphy, who was one of five suspects arrested in the February 2020 slaying of 20-year-old rapper Pop Smoke during a home-invasion robbery, reported TMZ.

Jaquan Murphy, then aged 21, was initially charged with attempted murder in the rapper’s killing but he was later cleared in that case.

Javonnta Murphy, 32, was killed with a gunshot to the dead in Los Angeles, more than three years after Pop Smoke’s murder. Javonnta Murphy / Instagram
Murphy’s naked body was found inside a sealed barrel floating in the water off a Malibu beach on July 31. AP

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s detectives are now looking into the possibility that Javonnta Murphy’s shooting death was a revenge killing for the rhymester’s murder, according to TMZ’s law enforcement sources.

Cops believe that Pop Smoke, born Bashar Barakah Jackson, was killed in a home invasion after revealing the location of his AirBnB rental in social media posts.

The rapper had posted photos of himself posing next to an infinity pool in the backyard, along with an image of the L.A. skyline.

In another post, the performer, or a member of his entourage, shared a photo of a gift bag tagged with the Hollywood Hills address.

Cops are looking into whether Javonnta Murphy’s killing was in retaliation for the February 2020 murder of Pop Smoke during a home invasion. Getty Images

Another snapshot showed Pop Smoke standing next to a Range Rover, with the rental property address partly visible behind him.

In the early hours of Feb. 19, 2020, five suspects — one of them masked and armed with a gun — broke into the home and fired a volley of bullets, killing the young rapper.

The robbers were said to have fled with the lyricist’s diamond-encrusted Rolex, which they later sold for $2,000.

The Los Angeles Police Department has previously said that the suspects were believed to be members of a South L.A. street gang.

Three of the suspects arrested 6 months later were identified as Jaquan Murphy, Corey Walker, 19, and Keandre Rodgers, 18.

The two remaining suspects were only described as a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy.

Police have previously said that it was the 15-year-old who confronted Pop Smoke in the shower, pistol whipped him and then shot him three times.

Murphy was the older brother of Jaquan Murphy, 24, who was arrested in July 2020 in connection with Pop Smoke’s killing. Javonnta Murphy / Instagram

Jaquan Murphy, now aged 24, is currently awaiting trial for an unrelated murder in Los Angeles County, reported TMZ.

His older brother, Javonnta Murphy, was an aspiring hip-hop artist who had just moved into his first apartment in Sylmar before he was killed, according to a family friend.

Patrick Nelson told the Los Angeles Times that Javonnta was not involved in gang activity and had no known enemies.

It remained unknown when the 32-year-old rap artist was killed before his body turned up on the Malibu beach, but Lt. Hugo Raynaga, with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said that “it didn’t look decomposed or like it had been there for a long time.”

So far, no arrests have been made in connection with Javonnta Murphy’s slaying.

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