A man accused of organizing the 2021 fatal shooting of the emerging rapper Young Dolph outside a cookie shop in Memphis was acquitted of all charges on Thursday.
A jury found the man, Hernandez Govan, 45, not guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, according to prosecutors and his lawyer, Manny Arora.
After the verdict, Mr. Govan hugged Mr. Arora and thanked Judge Jennifer Mitchell of Criminal Court in Shelby County, Tenn., The Associated Press reported.
“While we are happy with the result, we were disappointed the prosecution decided to pursue this case, knowing the investigation lacked merit,” Mr. Arora said in a statement on Thursday.
The Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office said it was disappointed in the verdict. “We believe Hernando Govan helped orchestrate the murder of Young Dolph, a beloved member of our community,” it said.
The Memphis Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Young Dolph, a Memphis rapper whose legal name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was considered a rising artist in his community and in the hip-hop industry when he was killed in November 2021. He began releasing mixtapes in the late 2000s. His last solo album, “Rich Slave,” debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard album chart in 2020.
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The post Man Accused of Arranging Murder of the Rapper Young Dolph Is Found Not Guilty appeared first on New York Times.
