In the legal proceedings surrounding the murder of popular Memphis-based rapper Young Dolph, accused killer Justin Johnson, also known as “Straight Drop,”‘ is seeking a change of venue for his trial due to safety worries and the intense media scrutiny surrounding the case.

In 2022, he first requested the move over safety concerns; now Johnson has asked the court again, this time due to the extensive local media coverage, saying he will be unable to get an impartial jury, AP News reported.

Johnson is one of the others arrested in the murder of the rapper.

Hernandez Govan is accused of organizing the murder of Young Dolph. Authorities accuse the 43-year-old Govan of being the one who ordered Johnson and Cornelius Smith to shoot and kill Young Dolph at Makeda’s Homemade Cookies on Nov. 17, 2021.

Young Dolph, 36, was born Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. in Chicago and was raised in Memphis. He was a husband and father who was well-known and loved in his community, where he was a philanthropist. Young Dolph was shot and killed outside Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies in South Memphis, a local business he supported, according to reports. The shop’s owner, Maurice Hill, said Young Dolph walked into the store to buy cookies, and someone drove up, shot, and killed him. Dolph’s Lamborghini could be seen parked at the scene.

The trial has been reset from March 11 to June 3.

In January, Anthony “Big Jook” Mims, 47, brother of Memphis rapper Yo Gotti, lost his life in a shooting that occurred outside Perignons Restaurant and Event Center on the 6300 block of Winchester Road. The tragic incident took place following a funeral service for Memphis street legend Eric “Big E” Bovan.

Bovan, 63, who passed away on Dec. 31, 2023, was a longtime friend and colleague of Big Jook and Yo Gotti, who reportedly attended Bovan’s funeral s well but left Memphis soon after. Gotti is also dating Angela Simmons, the daughter of hip-hop legend Rev. Run from Run-DMC.

Law enforcement said at the time they were also looking into any potential connection between Mims’ death and the 2021 killing of the late Memphis rapper Young Dolph, who was a former music rival of Gotti. Dolph was fatally shot outside a local cookie store, just 14 minutes away from the location where Mims was also shot and killed. There has been speculation that Mims had ties to the death of Dolph, but it has not been proven.

Photo: (L-R) Young Dolph poses for a portrait during the Empire Records DJ party at Skydeck, Miami Beach, on Oct. 5, 2018. mpi04/MediaPunch /IPX/Justin Johnson, YouTube screenshot, ABC24 Memphis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ni9z5yz-M