Authorities investigating connection between naked body found at Malibu beach and rapper Pop Smoke’s murder

Los Angeles authorities are investigating the 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.

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.

Poo Smoke 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.

In April, a 20-year-old man pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, admitting he and his friends entered Pop Smoke’s Hollywood Hills mansion with a plan to rob the rapper of a ‘large gold watch.’

The defendant, who was not named because he committed the crime when he was a juvenile, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and home invasion robbery.

He was said to have been the one to scout the mansion, and recruited others to the crime.

The 20-year-old was sentenced to four years and two months at the Secure Youth Treatment Facility in Los Angeles, but could remain in juvenile custody until he’s 25.

The defendant is the first in the alleged scheme to plead guilty. Other defendants included Corey Walker, who is the sole adult defendant in the case.

Prosecutors claimed Walker was caught in a secretly-recorded jailhouse interview allegedly confessing to his role in the killing.

Walker is said to have admitted how the group used ski masks and a police scanner in an attempt to avoid being caught.

‘He said that when the individuals got inside, the suspects confronted (Pop Smoke), who was in the shower naked,’ LAPD Det. Carlos Camacho testified in 2021.

At one point, according to Walker’s retelling of the crime, it appeared Pop Smoke was complying with the demands to hand over the jewelry that he was still wearing but the rapper fought back and ‘rushed’ the intruders.

The rapper was then pistol-whipped before a 15-year-old is alleged to have shot him in the chest, according to Walker’s account.

That teen is also alleged to have admitted his role in the murder in an interview recorded with a cellmate at a juvenile detention center.

‘He admitted that he shot the victim three times with a Barretta 9mm,’ Camacho testified at a preliminary hearing. ‘They got into a fight, and he shot him three times,’ Camacho detailed referring to the recorded jail interview. ‘He said he shot him on the back.’  

 

The 15-year-old ‘admitted that they asked for the jewelry’ and had ‘a confrontation’ with Pop Smoke the detective recounted.

Keandre Rodgers was also charged with murder and robbery. Both he and Walker now face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.  

Jaquan was initially arrested but was never charged with the slaying.

His younger brother’s body was found naked and stuffed inside a 55-gallon drum floating in the water along the Pacific Coast Highway bridge last week.

Sanitation workers first spotted the drum on July 30, but Javonnta was only discovered dead the next morning when lifeguards swam to retrieve it and noticed its weight.

‘It didn’t look decomposed or like it had been there for a long time,’ Lieutenant Hugo homicide investigator Hugo Raynaga said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide detectives are now investigating Javonnta’s death, and authorities believe the high tide may have carried the barrel into Malibu lagoon from the ocean.

It remains unclear how Murphy died, how long his body was inside the barrel or where it originated.

The beach was closed as homicide investigators combed the scene. 

Malibu Lagoon State Beach is in Malibu, California, and also known as Surfrider Beach

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