Memphis jury acquits Hernandez Govan in Young Dolph killing

A Memphis jury acquitted Hernandez Govan on all charges in the 2021 murder of rapper Young Dolph, delivering a verdict after three days of testimony and nearly three hours of deliberation. Govan, 45, was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted murder for allegedly serving as the middleman who organized the ambush at a south Memphis bakery. He walked free as jurors declined to convict him of orchestrating the fatal shooting.

During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Govan as the central organizer of a murder-for-hire plot tied to a broader feud involving Dolph’s record label, Paper Route Empire, and figures connected to rival rapper Yo Gotti. Investigators pointed to phone records and other communications suggesting coordination between Govan and the two gunmen on the day Dolph visited Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in November 2021. The two alleged shooters, Justin Johnson and Cornelius Smith, had already been linked to the crime in separate proceedings, with Johnson ultimately serving a life sentence and Smith testifying in exchange for a more lenient outcome.

Govan’s defense argued that the state had failed to establish a...