Police charge 4, including 2 teens, in death of rapper Pop Smoke

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Police have charged two adults and two teens with the murder of rapper Pop Smoke after a home-invasion incident in Los Angeles this past February.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement that Corey Walker and Keandre Rodgers were charged with a murder that occurred during the commission of a robbery and burglary. Two adolescents, ages 15 and 17, were also charged with murder and robbery while in juvenile court. Names for the latter two were not released due to their age.

A spokesperson for the LAPD previously confirmed to Fox News last week that several search and arrest warrants were served throughout the Los Angeles area Thursday morning, all of which were related to the death of the aspiring 20-year-old rapper, whose real name was Basha Barakah Jackson.

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The late rapper was reportedly at a Hollywood Hills, Calif., home around 4:30 a.m. when two men whose faces were covered with masks broke in and fired off multiple gunshots, law enforcement sources told TMZ at the time. Multiple outlets reported that the rapper was killed during the home invasion incident.

Four people have been charged with the death of rapper Pop Smoke. (Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images)

Walker, 19, and Rodgers, 18, could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. The arraignment for both men has been postponed until Tuesday.

Jaquan Murphy, 21, was also arrested in connection with the incident last week. The complaint includes gang and gun allegations.

Capt. Jonathan Tippet, who oversees the Los Angeles Police Department’s elite Robbery-Homicide Division, said three men and two teenage boys likely went to the home because they knew Pop Smoke was there from social media posts. They stole items from the home, though Tippet said he could not divulge what was taken.

All five are believed to be members of a South Los Angeles gang, which Tippet would not name, and at least some of them are believed to be linked to a 2019 homicide when a fight escalated into a shooting outside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

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Authorities did not initially believe the rapper’s death was related to a robbery. The home where the shooting occurred is owned by Edwin Arroyave and his wife Teddi Mellencamp, a star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and the daughter of Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer John Mellencamp.

Teddi Mellencamp previously said on Instagram that the couple had been notified of the shooting at their rental property but knew no more than what they had seen in media reports.

Aspiring rapper Pop Smoke died in a home invasion incident in February. (Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images)

Pop Smoke arrived on the rap scene in 2018 and broke out with “Welcome to the Party,” a gangsta anthem with boasts about shootings, killings and drugs that became a huge sensation and prompted Nicki Minaj to drop a verse on a remix.

Earlier this year, Pop Smoke released the mixtape “Meet the Woo 2,” which debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. It was the follow-up to his first official release, “Meet the Woo.” The rapper also had the popular hit “Gatti” with Travis Scott and Jackboys and “Dior.”

His major label debut album, “Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon,” which was executive produced by 50 Cent, recently topped the Billboard Top 200 albums charts. It was released posthumously July 3 to mostly positive reviews and features appearances from popular artists, including Future, DaBaby and Quavo.

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Pop Smoke had been scheduled to start a U.S. tour in Washington, D.C., on March 2.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.