Los Angeles authorities are investigating a potential connection between the 2020 murder of Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke and a naked body that was found stuffed in a barrel floating off a Malibu beach this past week.
Family members have identified the remains stuffed inside the barrel as those of singer-songwriter Javonnta Murphy, 32, who was the brother of Jaquan Murphy — one of five people arrested in the wake of Pop Smoke’s murder.
Jaquan had originally been charged in the attempted murder of the rapper, but was later cleared of any wrongdoing. He is, however, awaiting trial for an unrelated murder in Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is now looking into the possibility that Javonnta was killed in retaliation for Pop’s murder, TMZ reported.
The star, whose real name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, 20, was killed in a suspected home invasion at a Hollywood Hills home he had rented by a group of masked men at around 4.30am in February 2020.
That July, two men and two teenagers were charged with his killing. All four defendants were members of the same street gang and are said to have learned of Pop Smoke’s whereabouts from his Instagram account.
They were able to see the address of the rapper’s Airbnb on a gift bag label and saw that he had a stack of cash with him.
A friend of someone staying in the house had called 911 to report the intruders, according to police.
The rapper’s body was discovered shortly afterward, and he was subsequently declared dead after being taken to a hospital.
Hellbound and Down 