The only adult defendant charged with the 2020 murder of rising rapper Pop Smoke appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom Friday and had his trial date pushed to early August after plea negotiations with prosecutors broke down. The trial for Corey Walker previously was scheduled to start next week. “Negotiations fell through, but there’s still a possibility we’ll come to an agreement,” lawyer Deion Benjamin, who’s representing Walker with co-counsel Kellen Davis, tells Rolling Stone .
“A few things need to be ironed out. If they don’t get resolved, we’ll go to trial.” The trial, now set to kick off with jury selection on August 6, is expected to last three and a half weeks.
At a hearing in May, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams told the court that a deal from prosecutors had been in the final stages. “We are very close to a disposition in the case at this point. I received some information from my office asking the court, before we go through with final plea, to get a little more time,” Williams said last month.
Details of the deal were not disclosed. Williams declined to comment Friday. Walker, 23, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of burglary.
When prosecutors first announced his charges four years ago under a prior district attorney, they said that because Pop Smoke was fatally shot during an alleged robbery, Walker would be eligible for the death penalty . (New DA George Gascón l.
