The two men accused of killing rapper Young Dolph appeared in court to address charges connected to the death of the Memphis star.
According to FOX 13, Cornelius Smith, 32, and Justin Johnson, 23, stepped into a Shelby County courtroom last week to face first-degree murder charges for their part in the rapper’s fatal shooting outside of the Makeda’s Cookies bakery in November of 2021.
After Smith’s bond hearing was reset, to allow the lawyers to get witnesses ready to testify on behalf of their client, both men’s lawyers have requested to review video evidence and discovery linking them to the murder.
Now Smith’s bond hearing will be scheduled for May 27th. Johnson’s report date has been scheduled for the same day.
A week ago, Johnson was sentenced to 24 months in prison for a supervised release violation.
The 27-year-old was allegedly a passenger in Johnson’s car and was originally charged with being an accessory.
The state claimed Barnett helped Johnson escape from Memphis to Indiana after Dolph was murdered. Barnett was taken into custody in Indiana.
However, Indiana officials say Shelby County instructed them to let Barnett go.
Clay County Sheriff Paul Harden said, “On January 11th, Mr. Shundale Barnett was brought to the Clay County Jail by the Indiana State Police from an arrest on I-70. He was booked in the Clay County Jail on an outstanding warrant from Shelby County, Tennessee.”
“We held them (Johnson and Barnett), contacted Shelby County, and held him (Barnett) on their warrant, and we were contacted on January 21st, and they told us that they were no longer wanting to come up and pick up Mr. Barnett and that we were to release him at that time.”
The U.S. Marshals Service said he also faces theft of property charges when he is caught.