The state on Wednesday afternoon suspended the trial of Justin Johnson for his alleged involvement in the murder of Adolf Thornton Jr., better known as Young Dolph.
Shelby County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman has dropped his case after nearly three days of questioning former Memphis Police Department officers, family and friends of Thornton and, most notably, Cornelius Smith. Smith is one of the men accused of killing Young Dolph.
Johnson also testified briefly on Wednesday afternoon, but then refused to testify.
Smith also faces a series of charges related to the murder of Young Dolph and testified during the first day of the trial.
The third day of the trial began with MPD Lt. Ma’Hajj Abdul-BaQee, who clarified an error in the testimony and evidence from the previous day. The prosecution said that the evidence presented during day two contained time stamps that were incorrect. Abdul-BaQee said that on November 24, 2021, he attempted to remove the video surveillance from the Crosstown Concourse but was unable to do so, but when he returned a few days later on November 26, he was able to do so.
Abdul-BaQee told Johnson’s lawyer Luke Evans that he had not seen the videos on the day of the murder.
Mobile phone data admissible as evidence
The next witness was Michael Garner, who retired from MPD earlier in 2024 and was involved in the investigation into Dolph’s death. Garner worked with the organized crime unit and specifically with digital forensics.
While on the stand, Garner went into great detail about how phones can be roughly traced through parts of a city by obtaining call logs. Garner showed Johnson and Smith’s phone records on the day of Dolph’s death and how their phones were located near cell towers near the shooting on the day Young Dolph was killed.
Johnson’s phone picked up signals from cell towers and showed him traveling from his Crosstown Concourse home to Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies and on to a South Memphis apartment complex where the duo reportedly went to change and clean up after the shooting.
Immediately after the prosecution dropped its case, Evans moved for acquittal, arguing the state had not presented sufficient evidence to connect Johnson to the case. The judge quickly denied the motion.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Here’s What Happened on the Third Day of Young Dolph’s Murder Trial
