Young Dolph shooting suspects plead not guilty in Memphis
FILE - Young Dolph performs at The Parking Lot Concert in Atlanta on Aug. 23, 2020. Two men charged with fatally shooting rapper Young Dolph in a daylight ambush at a cookie shop pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in a Tennessee courtroom Friday, Feb. 11, 2022. Lawyers for Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith said their clients were not guilty during a hearing in Shelby County Criminal Court in Memphis. (Photo by Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP, File)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two men charged with fatally shooting rapper Young Dolph in a daylight ambush at a Tennessee cookie shop have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges.
Lawyers for Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith entered the pleas Friday in Shelby County Criminal Court in Memphis.
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Smith told Judge Lee Coffee that he had hired a private lawyer. Coffee appointed an attorney for Johnson, who said he could not afford one.
Johnson and Smith were indicted in January in the Nov. 17 killing of 36-year-old Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr.
