Police Suspect Body Found In Barrel Tied To Pop Smoke's Murder

Pop Smoke – Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty

Los Angeles County Sheriffs suspect that a body found inside a barrel could be connected to the 2020 murder of Pop Smoke.

On Thursday, Aug. 3, the Malibu, California community was shaken up after a barrel washed ashore with a dead boy inside. Los Angeles and surrounding counties aren’t strangers to crime, but this was especially gruesome and shocking. According to KTLA, the naked body in the barrel was that of 32-year-old aspiring rapper Javonnta Murphy. Family told the media Murphy wasn’t involved in gang activity and he had never been in serious trouble. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner revealed he died from a shot to the head. A crime this egregious has left investigators with more questions than answers.

According to TMZ, Javonnta’s brother Jaquan Murphy was one of the five people arrested in connection to Pop Smoke’s Murder. While police can’t be sure if the two murders are connected, it seems that’s the direction they are moving in for now and believe it could have been a “retaliation killing.” Jaquan was cleared of attempted murder relating to Pop Smoke’s murder but will head to trial for another murder in the same county. Investigators haven’t ruled this as a motive, but they are not leaving any lead unresolved.