MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A white Mercedes police say was used as the getaway car in the murder of rapper Young Dolph had been stolen from a woman who was carjacked at a gas station in East Memphis a week before the shooting.
Cornelius Smith, who is charged in Young Dolph’s murder, is charged in the carjacking as well. Police say they discovered his finger prints inside the car.
WREG’s Shay Arthur tracked down the owner of that white Mercedes and asked her about the unfolding case. It was actually the car owner’s relative who was driving the car at the time of the carjacking. She was on the phone with her when it happened.
“I am just so glad that she wasn’t killed, because these guys are killers,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified for her safety.
The 22-year-old woman borrowed the car from a relative and made a quick stop at a gas station off Kirby Road just after 7:30 at night.
The victim told police two men armed with assault rifles came up and demanded the car. One of them hit her in the face with the barrel of gun.
The young woman called her relative as this happened, and she didn’t immediately give up the car.
“Oh, I really thought they were going to kill her,” the relative said. “I mean that’s all I was thinking. I’m going to hear her die right here on the phone. … She’s going off, you know. She was standing up for herself and even at one point kept them from possibly putting her in the car with them.”
Eventually the men got the car keys and drove off.
A week later, a picture of the car, believed to be the get away car in Young Dolph’s murder, was broadcast by police.
Days later, officers discovered it behind an abandoned home in Orange Mound.
The victim’s relative said the young woman still has anxiety from the incident.
“A little trauma resurfaced, just from all of this coming back up. It was really hard on her,” she said.
The car owner said that, while she only had the Mercedes — her dream car — for a few months, property can be replaced.
She now thinks of Young Dolph’s family as they deal with their loss, and reminds everyone tonight to always stay alert wherever they go.
“My heart goes out to the people who were hurt by this group of people who are not OK,” she said.