Hernandez Govan acquitted in Young Dolph murder case

A Shelby County jury on Thursday found Hernandez Govan not guilty of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the 2021 killing of rapper Young Dolph, clearing the 45 year old man after roughly three hours of deliberation in a Memphis courtroom. The verdict, returned on the morning of Aug. 21 after several days of testimony, ended a high profile case in which prosecutors had accused Govan of arranging the ambush that killed Adolph Thornton Jr., known as Young Dolph, outside a local bakery in November 2021.

Jurors acquitted Govan on all counts, including an attempted first degree murder charge that prosecutors had dropped before trial. Video of the verdict showed Govan embracing his defense team and wiping away tears as the jury foreperson confirmed the not guilty decision. The panel, composed of five men and seven women according to court accounts, told reporters afterward that the state had not met the legal burden of proof and that its case leaned too heavily on the testimony of a cooperating codefendant.

Prosecutors portrayed Govan as a middleman who linked the two men who opened fire with an alleged mastermind and benefited from the hit. Their case...