The family of the only adult defendant on trial in the 2020 murder of Pop Smoke has said they hope to speak “privately” with the late rapper’s parents.
The New York Daily News reports that relatives of 20-year-old Corey Walker have expressed a desire to interact with Pop’s family. “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," said Walker's defense lawyer Christopher Darden.
The hope is that such a conversation could help both families in their “shared heartbreak” over the murder of Pop Smoke. Darden added that he knows “how uncomfortable such a conversation might be,” and that he respects that Pop’s family “might need time.” He added, “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.”
In a statement, Pop Smoke’s mother Audrey Jackson, a New York City teacher, did not say whether she would agree to such a conversation. "This is new information to me. I’ll have to learn more,” she said. “I’m working on a lesson plan right now. That is my focus. I really can’t say.”
Walker’s rearraignment is currently scheduled for July 6. It has been said by prosuectors that Walker scouted the Los Angeles property that Pop Smoke was staying at when he was shot and killed in February 2020. He was the driver who took the other suspects, all minors at the time of the crime, to the house to rob Pop. A 15-year-old defendant in the case admitted to being the one who pulled to trigger.
"My client did not kill anyone. Nor did he conspire to commit murder," said Darden. "Corey was 18. He did not kill the victim. He did not enter the home. The agreement amongst the suspects according to the DA’s evidence was that no gun was to be fired. That is in the record." Walker has also admitted to his involvement in a conversation with a police plant, although he maintained that he did not kill the rapper.
