MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE — Young Dolph grew up riding his bike and playing basketball in his neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee, and later pursued a rap career, including becoming the owner of the independent music label Paper Route Empire.
He was beloved by local residents for his charitable activities, including donating to the local high school, paying rent, covering funeral expenses for others, and handing out turkeys for Thanksgiving.
He was in Memphis to hand out turkeys to his family at church when he visited his favorite cookie shop near his childhood home, when an incident shocked the city and the entertainment world. Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was ambushed and shot to death on November 17, 2021.
Nearly three years later, the 36-year-old rapper’s murder trial is set to begin Monday. Justin Johnson pleaded not guilty to murder in the first trial and will face a Nashville-area jury after his attorney argued that intense media coverage and social media attention would make it difficult to seat a jury in Memphis.
Another man, Cornelius Smith Jr., is also charged with first-degree murder. His attorney, Michael Scholl, said he will not stand trial Monday. Smith also pleaded not guilty.
Dolph’s family and friends have been patiently waiting for the trial and praying for justice for the father of two, his sister, Carlysa Brown, said.
“We want everyone involved to get what they deserve,” she said in a phone interview. “It was a very senseless killing.”
On the day the rapper was shot, two men got out of a stolen Mercedes-Benz, opened fire at Makeda’s Homemade Cookies and fled, authorities said. While police were searching for the suspects, they released surveillance footage showing the two men getting out of the Mercedes and shooting into the store.
After being on the run for more than a month, Johnson was arrested in Indiana in January 2022. Smith was arrested on a warrant for theft of a Mercedes.
Authorities have not released a motive for the shooting. Two other men have also been charged in connection with the shooting.
Hernandez Govan pleaded not guilty to a charge of orchestrating the murder. Jermarcus Johnson pleaded guilty in June 2023 to three counts of aiding and abetting Smith and his half-brother Justin Johnson in the murders.
Jemarcus Johnson admitted that he helped the two shooting suspects communicate on their cellphones while they were running from authorities, and that he helped one of them communicate with his probation officer. Jemarcus Johnson was not sentenced.
Immediately after the shooting, the bakery was turned into a makeshift memorial for Young Dolph, with fans praying in the parking lot and writing messages of condolences and love on plywood covering windows that had been shattered by the shooting. The bakery was closed for several months, but has since reopened.
He was also honored while playing for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. Murals of the rapper were painted throughout the city. A neighborhood street was named after him.
Known for his tough street life and independent approach to the music business, he began his career by releasing numerous mixtapes, beginning with 2008’s “Paper Route Campaign”, and several studio albums, including his 2016 debut “King of Memphis”. He has also collaborated with Key Glock, Megan Thee Stallion, T.I., Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, and more on other mixtapes and albums.
Three of his albums have reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with 2020’s “Rich Slave” peaking at No. 4.
Young Dolph wanted to be an independent entrepreneur, so he founded Paper Route Empire, his older sister said.
“He didn’t want to be boxed in and stuck in a box like he would be with other labels,” Brown said. “It was about having something of his own, something that he had created and made, that he could ultimately use to influence other people.”
Born in Chicago, Young Dolph moved to Memphis with his three siblings as a child. The move was to be closer to his grandmother because his parents were struggling with addiction.
“We had a great childhood, and my brother was always very independent and had a big brother mentality,” Brown said. “My sister and I are the oldest, but he was always the leader, like, ‘I’m the protector, I’m going to protect you.’”
According to Brown, he was an artistic kid who loved to draw and hang out in Castalia Heights, a working-class neighborhood that sometimes showed the young Dolph a rougher side of Memphis, which he later channeled into his music.
“He wasn’t the kind of boy who would stand on the corner, but he was definitely streetwise,” she said.
Young Dolph’s legacy lives not only in his music, but also in his philanthropic efforts, including the IdaMae Family Foundation, named after his grandmother. The charity holds an annual day of service in his honor.
“My grandmother was the person people came to for help, and of course she went to them,” said Brown, the foundation’s president. “Helping people and giving to people is something that comes naturally to us. It just comes naturally. It comes from the kindness of her heart.”
