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The guy accused of killing Pop Smoke has moved from juvenile detention to adult prison,
Deijae Devon Jester, now 21, was hit with a second conviction that landed him four years behind bars for a fentanyl smuggling operation he coordinated from inside Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall.
Jester pleaded no contest to possessing 25 fentanyl-laced pills that his mother attempted to deliver during a December 2025 visit. Facility staff intercepted the exchange when they spotted the blue balloon being passed between them.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage and recorded phone calls showing Jester and his mother discussing plans to smuggle contraband into the facility.
He’d already been involved in multiple drug-related incidents while incarcerated, including an overdose that required emergency revival with Narcan.
When guards caught his mother with the pills, Jester’s response was defiant. In a recorded call, he told her he didn’t care about the consequences and would “come home regardless.”
Prosecutors pushed for the maximum five-year sentence, arguing Jester had squandered his chance at redemption and was actively distributing narcotics to other minors inside the facility.
His defense team countered by highlighting his accomplishments while locked up, including earning his high school diploma and becoming a father.
Judge P. Tamu Usher settled on four years, delivered with Jester bowing his head and nodding as the sentence was read.
“Deijae Jester committed a devastating crime when he took the life of Pop Smoke. Because he was a juvenile, the law afforded him an opportunity for redemption. Instead of embracing that opportunity, he chose to traffic one of the deadliest drugs imaginable from inside a juvenile detention facility,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “He was given the chance at rehabilitation by serving seven years in a juvenile hall but he chose to smuggle in fentanyl. Now he faces multiple years in county jail. If you continue to commit serious crimes after being given a second chance, this office will hold you fully accountable. I hope others take notice before making the same destructive choices.”
Jester’s original conviction came in 2023 when he admitted to first-degree murder in the 2020 killing of the Brooklyn rapper.
He was 15 at the time of the shooting and had been expected to remain in juvenile custody until turning 25 under California law.
The original Pop Smoke murder case involved a home invasion robbery in the Hollywood Hills on February 19, 2020.
Jester and three others broke into the rental property where the rapper was staying and confronted him in the shower.
When Pop Smoke resisted, Jester pistol-whipped him and fired three shots into his back. The group stole his diamond-encrusted watch, later selling it for $2,000.
Corey Walker, the adult co-defendant who supplied the firearm, received 29 years in state prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and home-invasion robbery charges in February 2025.
Jester’s mother, Nickia Randall, also faces felony charges related to the fentanyl handoff but remains in custody in San Bernardino County and hasn’t entered a plea yet.
