Hernandez Govan was named as the alleged mastermind behind the fatal ambush of Young Dolph as his high-profile murder trial began Monday (August 18) in Memphis, with one of the accused gunmen delivering explosive testimony about the moments leading up to the deadly shooting.
On the stand, Cornelius Smith admitted he was one of the two men who gunned down the Memphis rapper in 2021. He pointed directly at Hernandez Govan in court, identifying him as the man who offered up the hit.
Smith said he met Govan in 2021 through a man named Bobby Carter, who introduced him as a drug supplier. According to Smith, Govan sold him ecstasy and oxycodone during a period when he relapsed after the death of his son in 2020.
Smith testified that Govan told him “it was a hit at the time on a couple of guys in Paper Route,” referring to Dolph’s music label, Paper Route Empire.
Smith claimed the hit was ordered by “Big Jook”, the late brother of rapper Yo Gotti, for $100,000.
“He was telling us who had the most money on his head. Young Dolph had the most money on his head. If you kill Young Dolph, you getting $100,000,” Smith testified.
He said Govan mentioned the annual turkey drive as a potential opportunity. “That’s our opportunity to make something shake,” Smith recalled.
Smith admitted he didn’t know much about Paper Route Empire before that. “I don’t know nothing about what Paper Route do,” he said, although he acknowledged listening to Dolph’s music.
He said he and Justin Johnson were made aware of the bounties placed on PRE members and had already been scouting before the turkey giveaway.
Smith later testified that Johnson received a call revealing Dolph’s location, but when they arrived, he wasn’t there. Still, they knew he was in town.
“Anything could shake right now. We going to get somebody. Tomorrow is our day. We going to strike somebody. We going to get lucky tomorrow,” Smith said.
On November 17, 2021, Smith said he got a call from Johnson, who said he was on the way to pick him up.
Smith lived just minutes from Govan’s house. Johnson arrived in a white Mercedes, and within an hour, they had spotted Young Dolph, who was still in town for the PRE turkey giveaway.
“They come, driving across the light and we spotted the car. We were like, there they go. We proceed the trail Young Dolph,” Smith testified. “Once we say him, we didn’t say nothing. We knew it was go time.”
Smith said they followed Dolph to Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies.
“Once we pulled in that’s when I saw Young Dolph closest to the glass,” Smith said.
Prosecutors then played a new surveillance video showing Smith approaching and firing at Dolph. One of Dolph’s associates returned fire, chasing the shooters out of the store.
Smith said he was hit in his arm and leg during the exchange and was bleeding profusely.
“Once we left the cookie shop, I was telling Justin I was hit. He like ‘I was hit too,’” Smith said. “Justin was driving at the time. I was asking him cause he was driving, so he wouldn’t crash. We went back to house in front of Mr. Hernandez Govan’s house. I jumped out the Mercedes Benz, jumped into a Suburban truck and moved out the way.”
Smith testified that they had no exit strategy.
“I was bleeding incredible bad. We were trying to get cleaned up. And we were trying to find some where to go,” he said. “In the mean time he face time Big Jook. He [Jook] told us he would get with us when he was done with his kids. I would have had to have gone through Mr. Hernandez Govan or Justin Johnson (to get his money).”
Justin Johnson, aka “Straight Drop,” has already been convicted of murder, conspiracy and weapons charges related to Dolph’s murder. He received a life sentence plus 50 years.
Cornelius Smith pleaded guilty and is testifying against Govan.