Jan. 6 (UPI) — Authorities in Tennessee have identified the suspect in November’s shooting death of rapper Young Dolph at a Memphis bakery as 23-year-old Justin Johnson.
The U.S. Marshals Service and the Memphis Police Department, along with Crime Stoppers and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, identified Johnson as the suspect Wednesday in a press release as they announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Dolph, whose real name is Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., was fatally shot the afternoon of Nov. 17 at Makeda’s Homemade Cookies, a bakery in Memphis the 36-year-old musician was known to frequent when in town.
Authorities said Wednesday that during the police investigation they issued a first-degree murder warrant for Johnson in connection to the shooting.
The suspect, who has ties to organized crime gangs, is to be considered armed and dangerous and has a second outstanding warrant for violation of federal supervised release for an original weapons offense charge.
“Both cases were adopted for a fugitive investigation by the U.S. Marshals,” the authorities said. “Since the issuance of the murder warrant, U.S. Marshals and MPD have been extensively searching for Johnson.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has also added Johnson — who is described as a Black five-feet eight-inch-tall man, weighing about 190 pounds — to its Most Wanted list.
Following the shooting in November, police increased the presence of troops in areas of the city authorities said may be impacted by the violence, including locations connected to Dolph, in order to prevent further bloodshed.
