Man charged with conspiracy in Young Dolph’s death pleads not guilty

A man who prosecutors said solicited the killing of rapper Young Dolph pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and first-degree murder charges Thursday morning and prosecutors added a charge to the case against two men already in custody.

Hernandez Govan, 43, was indicted a week ago on first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder charges. He is the third person to be charged in the shooting.

And Assistant District Attorney Paul Hagerman said Thursday that a conspiracy to commit first-degree murder charge has been added in the case against to two men previously arrested.

In a newsletter sent out Wednesday, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said: “We allege that this individual (Govan) solicited the murder and put it in motion. We will continue to seek justice in this killing.”

The court appearance took place exactly a year after Young Dolph’s death. Dolph, whose birth name is Adolph Thornton, Jr., was shot and killed inside Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies on Airways Boulevard November 17, 2021. He was 36-years-old.

Young Dolph talks to a room of student athletes, faculty and alumni Tuesday, March 3, 2020, at Hamilton High School in Memphis. After sharing motivational messages and answering questions, Young Dolph, an alum of Hamilton High School, made a donation of $25,000 to the school’s athletic account.

In January 2022, two men were arrested and charged in connection with the shooting. Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith have been indicted on first-degree murder, attempted-first degree murder, weapons charges and theft charges. They were charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Memphis Police told The Commercial Appeal the investigation into the killing is ongoing.

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The Commercial Appeal received two of the three pages of Govan’s indictment Monday, the missing one being the conspiracy charge. Mulroy did not comment about the case specifically, but said it is standard practice to not release an indictment to the public if someone named is not in custody. Mulroy did not say whether or not that is the reason the indictment has not been made publicly available.

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Govan’s murder charges are both dated Nov. 17, 2021 — the date of Thornton’s death — but the conspiracy charge, which remains lightly shrouded in secrecy by prosecutors, dates back to June 1, 2021. No affidavit was created since he was indicted by a grand jury without having an appearance in Shelby County’s general sessions court.

This is not Govan’s first time in court, with charges ranging from drug offenses to aggravated assault.

His daughter, 25-year-old Destinee Govan was killed in the uptown neighborhood of Houston in late September 2022. Destinee Govan was a Memphis-born rapper known as Lotta Cash Desto. Her career as a hip-hop artist was boosted by Lil Uzi Vert, another artist out of Philadelphia who signed her.

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Third man charged in Young Dolph killing pleads not guilty