The family of 20-year-old Corey Walker, the only adult charged in the murder of Pop Smoke, wants to meet with the late rapper’s family “privately” according to The New York Daily News. Pop Smoke, born Bashar Jackson, was killed on Feb. 19, 2020, in Los Angeles during a botched home invasion. Five suspects were arrested in connection with his killing and are awaiting trial.
“The Walker family has asked me to contact the victim’s family so that they might speak privately. I hope to reach out to the family soon,” Walker’s defense lawyer Christopher Darden said to the newspaper.
Darden is the same lawyer who was part of the Los Angeles district attorney’s office that lost the O.J. Simpson murder trial. He explained that both families “shared heartbreak” over the killing and that he knows “how uncomfortable such a conversation might be.”
He also stated that he understood Pop Smoke’s family “might need time” to consider the conversation. “I will also understand if [his mom] is not inclined to have that conversation. Everything we have done and said has been done and said while keeping in mind the great respect we have for the victim and the victim’s family,” Darden told the New York Daily News.
Pop Smoke’s mother, Audrey Jackson, a teacher with the New York City Department of Education, told the paper that she would have to process the information before even considering it.
“This is new information to me. I’ll have to learn more. I’m working on a lesson plan right now. That is my focus. I really can’t say,” Jackson added to the NY Daily News.
In related news, Pop Smoke’s manager Steven Victor, announced on Twitter this week that a second posthumous album is on the forefront as well, although no further details were revealed. The late rapper garnered five awards for his debut and first posthumous album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, which cleaned up at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards last month. The album brought the late rapper wins for Top New Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Male Rap Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album and Top Rap Album.
