Beloved Memphis rapper Young Dolph, aka Paper Route Frank, was murdered in November of 2021. Dolph was by all accounts a wonderful human being. He was generous, thoughtful, as well as, loved by his neighbors. A man, believed to be Justin Johnson, shot him to death while Dolph was buying cookies for his mother. Now, new evidence provided by police suggests that his killer may actually have been someone that he knew.
What we Knew about the Murder of Young Dolph
FMHipHop has been following this story since the tragic events first occurred. Originally, we, as well as many other news sites, reported that it was a random killing. Young Dolph had a reputation for being a wonderful person; what motive could there be? Furthermore, the gunman shot upwards of 50 bullets in broad daylight.
Please see the attached photos of the suspects and suspect vehicle from the 2370 Airways Boulevard murder.
Anyone with any information is urged to call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH. pic.twitter.com/LzYLPJLlOc
— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) November 18, 2021
However, once information from investigators began to trickle in, the senseless killing started to seem more like a hit.
“One could only assume that this was a hit. The gunmen didn’t take his car, jewelry, money, they took his life. Someone wanted Young Dolph dead. An anonymous witness claimed that he heard about 50 gunshots rang out. 50 gunshots for one man.” (Samantha Hillard)
Just yesterday, however, police revealed the name of their primary suspect. Naturally, we covered it. Police warn that one Justin Johnson is on the run, likely armed and dangerous.
New Information
Upon learning Johnson’s name, the internet did what the internet does best. It scoured itself for any trace of the individual and reportedly found something.
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Apparently, the internet found Justin Johnson in the background of several photos with Young Dolph. These, along with images taken from Johnson’s Instagram, seem to suggest that the two also were connected in some way. Supposedly, Johnson can also be seen wearing a PRE (Paper Route Empire) chain.
Was Johnson a friend, an enemy, or maybe even a stalker? Until police apprehend him, we can only speculate.
by Chris Colasurdo
@cfcolasurdo on Twitter