This is interesting…
The parents of Christopher Walker, one of Pop Smoke’s murder defendants, want to meet Pop’s family.
via: Daily News
Relatives of the sole adult defendant facing trial for the murder of rapper Pop Smoke are hoping to set up a private discussion with the slain Brooklyn rapper’s parents, the Daily News has learned.
Corey Walker, 20, is the only member of a group of four defendants now facing charges who wasn’t a minor when Pop Smoke was shot to death during a home-invasion robbery at a rented Hollywood Hills home in February 2020, prosecutors have said.
His defense lawyer, Christopher Darden, told The News on Thursday that Walker’s relatives hope they can speak directly to the parents of the rapper, whose real name was Bashar Jackson, to convey their deep respect and shared heartbreak over the tragedy.
“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,” Darden said.
Pop Smoke’s mother, a teacher with the New York City Department of Education, said Thursday she couldn’t say whether she would agree to such a meeting.
“This is new information to me. I’ll have to learn more,” Audrey Jackson told The News. “I’m working on a lesson plan right now. That is my focus. I really can’t say.”
Darden said he understood “how uncomfortable such a conversation might be” for Pop Smoke’s parents.
“They might need time,” he said. “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 said.
Walker was to be rearraigned in the murder case Thursday after a judge decided at a preliminary hearing last month that prosecutors had enough evidence to warrant a trial.
The rearraignment was postponed until July 6 as Darden awaits copies of transcripts and a formal declaration from prosecutors they will not seek the death penalty, he said.
During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors laid out a case claiming Walker scouted Pop Smoke’s house hours before the deadly robbery and knew his co-defendants planned to rob the rapper at gunpoint to obtain items he flashed in Instagram photos.
Los Angeles police detectives have said the robbers wanted Pop Smoke’s thick gold link chain and diamond-studded Rolex — a watch the defendants allegedly resold for $2,000.
Darden argued that Walker may have been the driver that night but never entered the house and even told his younger co-defendants not to shoot anybody.
“My client did not kill anyone. Nor did he conspire to commit murder,” Darden told The News.
“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,” he said.
Audrey Jackson attended the preliminary hearing in person last month, hearing new details of her son’s murder for the first time.
She sat in the courtroom as detectives testified their investigation determined a 15-year-old gunman fired the shots that killed the rapper — and that Pop Smoke was kicked repeatedly on a floor after he was wounded.
Pop Smoke was a fast-rising rap star known for his gravelly voice and inventive take on drill music, died at age 20, just weeks away from finishing his debut studio album.
