The teenager who confessed to fatally shooting rapper Pop Smoke during a 2020 Hollywood Hills home invasion is now headed to adult state prison — not for the murder itself, but for trafficking fentanyl inside the Los Angeles County juvenile hall where he was locked up. Deijae Jester, now 21, pleaded no contest to felony charges of possessing fentanyl for sale and bringing contraband into a detention facility, a plea that adds four years to his sentence and moves him out of juvenile custody entirely.
According to FOX 11 Los Angeles, Jester was among four people charged in the February 2020 killing of Pop Smoke, born Bashar Jackson, who was shot and killed at age 20 during a home invasion at a rental home in the Hollywood Hills. Jester was 15 at the time of the shooting, and because of his age, California law barred prosecutors from trying him as an adult, meaning he faced a juvenile commitment that was expected to run only until he turned 25. That legal shield is detailed by the California Law Revision Commission, which notes that Senate Bill 1391, enacted in 2018, strictly prohibits transferring 14- and 15-year-old defendants into adult criminal court.
Despite that protection, court records described a far more direct role in the killing than his age alone might suggest. During a 2021 preliminary hearing, LAPD detectives presented wiretapped jail cell audio in which Jester — a member of the 107 Hoover Criminals gang known as “Lil Bam Bam” — bragged to a cellmate about pistol-whipping Pop Smoke and shooting him three times in the back after the rapper fought back, according to the Los Angeles Times. Fox 11's report, citing the Times and its own earlier coverage, notes Jester confessed to the shooting at age 18, years after the crime occurred when he was 15.
How the Fentanyl Made It Into Nidorf
The smuggling case centers on Jester's mother, Nickia Tyonia Randall, who was born while she herself was serving a prison sentence, per Fox 11's reporting. Security guards observed Randall passing a balloon to Jester, and that balloon was found to contain a small amount of blue powder — described elsewhere as 25 blue pills — during a visit at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar. Law enforcement issued a warrant for Randall's arrest in February 2026 on felony drug and contraband charges after surveillance and wiretaps allegedly showed her attempting to pass the fentanyl-filled balloons during a December 2025 visit, the same account notes. Randall, who was released from prison in 2021, allegedly attempted to provide drugs to her son on more than one occasion, according to the Times' report.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman condemned Jester's conduct in a statement from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, saying California law had given Jester a chance at redemption after Pop Smoke's murder that he chose to reject. The plea deal ends with Jester serving an additional four years in state prison, on top of the juvenile commitment tied to the murder conviction.
What Happened to the Other Suspects
Jester was one of four people charged in Pop Smoke's killing. Corey Walker, 24, the sole adult defendant at the time of the home invasion, was sentenced to 29 years in state prison in February 2025 after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and home-invasion robbery with gun and gang enhancements, according to BET. Walker acted as the getaway driver who transported the three minor suspects to the rental home, the outlet reported. A separate co-defendant, Keandre Rodgers, was 18 at the time of the shooting and initially faced capital-eligible murder charges; his case was reassessed under plea negotiations following California's statewide moratorium on executions, per CBS News, though the final resolution of his case is not detailed in available reporting.
Investigators determined the intruders located Pop Smoke's rental home after the Brooklyn rapper posted an Instagram Story showing a gift bag label that inadvertently exposed the street address of the Hollywood Hills Airbnb, BET reported. During the robbery, the attackers stole Pop Smoke's diamond-studded Rolex watch and later sold it for $2,000. Pop Smoke had performed at the Soulfrito Music Festival at Barclays Center in New York City in August 2019, months before his death.
A Facility With a Troubled Record
The smuggling case is not an isolated failure at Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall. The facility has faced repeated contraband breaches, including a June 2025 felony indictment of an LA County deputy probation officer accused of conspiring with a detained youth to sell Xanax pills inside the facility, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. The California Board of State and Community Corrections has separately cited the Sylmar facility for operational deficiencies, officially deeming it unsuitable for youth confinement due to missed safety checks, inadequate staff training, and improper room confinements, per Corrections1.
Those state citations followed severe staffing and safety breakdowns that put Los Angeles County juvenile halls under heightened oversight. Hoodline has previously reported on rising violence at Nidorf tied to staffing shortages and a court-ordered influx of youths transferred into the Sylmar facility. Open questions remain about whether Randall has been apprehended and what ultimately happened to Rodgers' case, details that were not resolved in the available reporting.
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