Young Dolph

Law enforcement officials in Young Dolph’s murder case have a new problem on their hands. CBS affiliate WREG reports that an arrest warrant for 28-year-old Shundale Barnett has been issued after officials failed to confirm his whereabouts more than a month after he was arrested for Dolph’s murder in Indiana. Barnett was initially detained with Justin Johnson during a traffic stop, and while they were both extradited back to Memphis to face murder charges, Barnett was released shortly after. Despite his release, Barnett was charged with being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder, and theft of property.

Barnett is now wanted by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office who claim they have no idea where he is. Clay County Sheriff Paul Harden spoke about the matter during a press conference on Thursday. “On January 11, Mr. Shundale Barnett was brought to the Clay County Jail by the Indiana State Police from an arrest on I-70,” Harden said. “He was booked in the Clay County Jail on an outstanding warrant from Shelby County, Tennessee.” He added, “We contacted Shelby County and held him on their warrant and we were contacted on January 21 and they told us that they were no longer wanting to come and pick up Mr. Barnett and that we were to release him at that time.”

At that same press conference, Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich was asked to clarify why Barnett was released in the first place. “I can’t, because it’s a pending case,” she said. “It is a pending investigation, it is a pending prosecution, and we can’t get into that at this time. When we can, we will answer all those questions that I know the public has.”

Earlier this month, the suspects in Young Dolph’s murder — 32-year-old Cornelius Smith and 23-year-old Justin Johnson -— were arrested and charged with first-degree murder two months after the rapper’s death. According to FOX13 Memphis, during their first appearance in court, the two were asked by Judge Lee Coffee if they would need an attorney to be provided for them. They both declined. In a second court appearance, the suspects returned again without lawyers, leaving Judge Coffee to set a deadline for them to find representation.

“If you have a lawyer hired, that’s fine, but as I told you 10 days ago, I cannot allow you to sit in jail week after week, month after month, without a lawyer,” Judge Coffee told Smith and Johnson during the hearing. “If you don’t have a lawyer hired on Feb. 4, I’m going to hire a private attorney to represent both of you all.” In response to Judge Coffee’s request, Smith and Johnson both assured the court that they would have lawyers by the deadlines, adding that their families were working on finding attorneys for them.

This comes after the slain rapper’s label Paper Route Empire released the tribute Long Live Young Dolph. It arrived complete with features from Key Glock, Big Moochie Grape, and more. Key Glock also delivered a video for “Proud,” which appears on the album.