One Man Has Confessed to the Murder of Rapper Young Dolph — What Happened?

Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., known as Young Dolph, was a millionaire who came up on the streets of Memphis. According to VIBE, both of his parents were addicted to crack which led to the rapper mostly being raised by his grandmother. She wasn't super strict when it came to her grandson, who opted to make money the only way he knew how. Thornton sold drugs while making music that would eventually make him a millionaire.

Before he was killed in November 2021, Thornton had evaded death on multiple occasions. Four years earlier, the rapper survived being shot which resulted in his song "100 Shots" as that's how many bullets rang out around him. He also walked away from two terrible car accidents when he was younger. Sadly his luck ran out which was a huge loss to the hip-hop community. What happened to Young Dolph? Details to follow.

According to an autopsy report obtained by Rolling Stone, Thornton was shot 22 times on Nov. 17, 2021. The West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center reported that the artist was "shot in his left chest, left abdomen, right chin, right neck, right shoulder, both arms and multiple times in his back." Rita Myers, Thornton's aunt, told the outlet, "Our family has suffered a tremendous loss because he was the glue that held our family together."

The day he died, Thornton had stopped by his favorite cookie shop, Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in Memphis, to pick up some tasty treats. While there, two individuals pulled up in a stolen Mercedes-Benz. Justin Johnson, 23, and Cornelius Smith, 32, allegedly got out of the car and began shooting. Both were later indicted and charged with first-degree murder.

Smith is cooperating with authorities and on Sept. 23, 2024, testified in court that he participated in the shooting of Thornton, per Memphis Commercial Appeal. He explained that in 2021, he was having a difficult time after losing his 9-year-old child mere months before the murder. After that, Smith found himself addicted to Oxycontin and ecstasy and was desperate for money.

The distraught father said that the hit was orchestrated by a man named Hernandez Govan, who offered him and Johnson $40,000 each to kill Thornton. Govan, in turn, would allegedly get $20,000. Initially, Smith said he and Johnson were going to take Thornton out while he was at his turkey drive charity event, but they spotted his car and followed it to the parking lot of the cookie establishment.

Smith got out first and told the court he "couldn’t tell you how many times [he] shot [Thornton]." At some point, Thornton's brother Marcus was able to shoot Smith in the arm and leg. Johnson was "grazed in the back." The two fled and switched cars at a house in Orange Mound, then stopped at an apartment in South Memphis to clean their wounds and change clothes. Smith returned to the Mercedes in order to clean it as well. When asked how much money he ended up making, Smith said $800.