Bashar Barakah Jackson, known professionally as Pop Smoke, was 20 when he was killed after a home invasion at a rented house in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, on February 19, 2020. Five hooded intruders forced their way in through a second-story balcony around 4:30 a.m.; one held a woman at gunpoint while an altercation unfolded and Pop Smoke was shot multiple times. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and pronounced dead a few hours later. The coroner listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the chest.

Investigators initially considered gang links but shifted to a robbery motive after the assailants stole Pop Smoke’s gold watch and other jewelry. Social media images posted by the artist the day before reportedly revealed the house address. By May 2021 a 15-year-old detained suspect admitted in a recorded interview to striking and shooting Pop Smoke; that teen and others have been charged, and at least one 17-year-old pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and home-invasion robbery and was sentenced to a juvenile facility.

Anyone who stayed in or near that Hollywood Hills rental, or who has information about the night, is asked to come forward.