In a verdict that stunned Memphis and the hip-hop world, a jury has acquitted Hernandez Govan on all counts in the 2021 killing of rapper Young Dolph. After weeks of jury selection, testimony, and arguments, the panel returned a not guilty verdict, rejecting the prosecution’s claim that Govan orchestrated the deadly ambush outside Makeda’s Cookies.
Govan walked out of the courtroom a free man after nearly two years under indictment and months of being painted as the alleged mastermind. Prosecutors argued he served as the middleman between Anthony “Big Jook” Mims, who allegedly funded the hit, and the gunmen Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith. Both shooters were convicted earlier, but the jury concluded that the state failed to prove Govan’s role beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case hinged on Smith’s cooperation. He testified that he and Johnson carried out the attack and claimed Govan coordinated the job. The defense tore into his credibility, pointing to his plea deal, his admitted pill abuse, and his financial desperation after losing a child. By the end of cross-examination, jurors appeared skeptical of whether Smith’s word was enough to convict.
Surveillance video, phone records, and financial documents were presented, but none directly placed Govan at the scene or showed him ordering the shooting. That gap gave the defense the opening they needed to argue that prosecutors had built their case on shaky ground.
The acquittal marks the most dramatic turn in the long legal fallout from Young Dolph’s killing. Johnson is serving a life sentence, Smith remains under a plea agreement, and Govan now walks away cleared of all charges. For Dolph’s family, the decision brings little closure, while for Govan it brings vindication after years under suspicion.
Outside the courthouse, reactions split sharply. Supporters of Young Dolph expressed outrage at the outcome, while Govan’s attorneys declared the result proof that the state overreached in its attempt to secure another conviction in the high-profile case.
The trial’s end does not erase the grief still felt in Memphis, but the verdict leaves the city grappling with a legal reality: the man once branded as the mastermind is, in the eyes of the law, not guilty.
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