Young Dolph grew up riding his bike and playing basketball in a Memphis, Tennessee, neighborhood and later built a rap career that included ownership of an independent music label, Paper Route Empire.
He became beloved locally for his charitable works: donations to local high schools, paying rent and covering funeral costs for others, Thanksgiving turkey giveaways.
He was in Memphis to hand out turkeys to families at a church when a visit to his favorite cookie shop near his childhood home turned into an event that shocked the city and the entertainment world. Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was gunned down in a daylight ambush on Nov. 17, 2021.
Nearly three years later, a trial in the 36-year-old rapper's killing is scheduled to begin Monday. Justin Johnson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and is scheduled to face a jury from the Nashville area after a defense attorney argued that intense media coverage and social media attention would make it hard to seat a jury from Memphis.
Another man, Cornelius Smith Jr., also was charged with first-degree murder. He is not scheduled for trial on Monday, said his lawyer, Michael Scholl. Smith also has pleaded not guilty.
