Young Dolph Alleged Murder Suspect Vows To Turn Himself In To Authorities
A suspect accused in the brazen fatal shooting of Young Dolph vowed to turn himself in to police on Monday (Jan. 10), while proclaiming his innocence, Complex reports.
Memphis rapper, Justin Johnson, 23, whose Instagram handle is reportedly @straightdroppp, announced Saturday (Jan. 9) that he planned to turn himself in to authorities, the report notes.
“Turning myself in Monday @201,” he wrote in a since-deleted post. “I’m innocent. I’ll be back sooner than you can blink.”
Police have been searching for a shooting suspect in the rapper’s death for months. Dolph, 36, was gunned down in his hometown of Memphis, Tenn., at Makeda’s Homemade Cookies shop, on November 17, 2021.
Authorities seem to have caught a break on Wednesday (Jan. 5). When Memphis law enforcement announced they were searching for Johnson. On Saturday (Jan. 8), Johnson broke his silence and said he was turning himself in.
Prior to his IG story post, he posted a video from ABC 24, in an effort to clear his name. In 2017, Johnson shot three people inside of Billy Hardwick’s bowling alley, located in Memphis, Tenn. The judge handling the case, Chris Craft, said Johnson “immediately admitted to what he did.”
Judge Craft says Johnson was given probation after serving six months and released due to being so “well behaved.” What Johnson didn’t post on his page was the full video, which notes that his probation was revoked a few months later, after being picked up for gun and drug possession. He was given a federal weapons charge.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Johnson was released in May 2021 and placed on federal supervision. In a photo on Johnson’s IG, he can be seen wearing a Paper Route EMPIRE (PRE) pendant, which is the late Dolph’s music label. In another photo, Johnson can be spotted in the background of a Dolph photo.
