Law enforcement is looking into a possible link between the murder of rapper Pop Smoke and the death of a rising LA rapper whose body was found in a barrel in Malibu last month.
Javonnta Murphy’s body was discovered inside a 55-gallon drum on July 31 at Malibu Lagoon State Beach. Police reports state that he died from a single gunshot to the head. Cops say the body had “decomposed or had been there a long time.”
The barrel was first found in the water near the Pacific Coast Highway bridge by a beach maintenance employee. A lifeguard swam out to the body and discovered Javonnta’s dead body.
Javonnta was the brother of Jaquan Murphy, one of the five suspects arrested for the murder of Pop Smoke in 2020.
Pop Smoke, real name Bashar Barakah Jackson, was shot and killed during a home invasion in his Hollywood Hills rental after accidentally showing his address on social media hours earlier.
