Murder for hire
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Lil Durk has entered a not guilty plea in his murder-for-hire case in California this week, setting the stage for an upcoming trial that has been set for the top of next year. Lil Durk is accused of ordering members of his OTF (Only The Family) collective to carry out a revenge killing in response to the shooting death of King Von.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Lil Durk, 32, was in a Los Angeles court on Thursday (November 14) for his arraignment in connection to the death of a family member of rival Quando Rondo. One of Rondo’s associates shot and killed Dayvon “King Von” Bennett in 2020 during an altercation in Atlanta, Ga.
Durk was initially arrested three weeks ago near a Miami airport where he was allegedly attempting to leave the country on a flight bound for Italy and according to reports, Durk was booked for three international flights on private airplanes.
The Tribune adds in its reporting that Durk is being held in a federal prison in California and prosecutors want him to remain jailed until his trial, which is set for January 7, 2025. The prosecutors in the case are stating that Durk is a potential flight risk and a danger to the community.
Lil Durk is accused of allegedly putting five OTF members on the task of taking out Quando Rondo after rapper Timothy “Lul Tim” Leeks shot and killed King Von. Charges against Lul Tim were later dropped according to Georgia’s “stand-your-ground” laws.
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Lil Durk and his ongoing legal woes that led to his arrest are mounting after new information provided additional details connected to an alleged murder-for-hire plot. With the Chicago rapper already facing serious charges, two additional charges were handed down as Lil Durk awaits his fate.
In a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California last Friday (November 8), it was revealed that Lil Durk, 32, will face two additional charges connected to the brazen 2022 shooting at the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles.
From the Justice Department’s public relations hub:
Durk Banks, 32, a.k.a. “Lil Durk,” “Blood,” and “Mustafa Abdul Malak,” of Chicago, is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and one count of using, carrying, and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possession of such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.
The indictment adds two felony charges against Banks, who previously was charged via criminal complaint in this case.
The four-count superseding indictment, returned late Thursday, adds Banks as the lead defendant to a previous indictment returned October 17 and charging the following defendants in connection with the August 2022 murder:
The other defendants named in the press release were Kavon London Grant, 28, a.k.a. “Cuz” and “Vonnie,” of Atlanta, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, 33, a.k.a. “DeDe,” of Chicago, Keith Jones, 33, a.k.a. “Flacka,” of Gary, Indiana; David Brian Lindsey, 33, a.k.a. “Browneyez,” of Addison, Illinois; and Asa Houston, 36, a.k.a. “Boogie,” of Chicago.
Lil Durk was arrested while reportedly looking to leave the country on October 17 near Miami International Airport. He was ordered jailed without bond until his transfer to Los Angeles for arraignment. He was charged in the 2022 shooting death of rival Quando Rondo’s cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, aka Lul Pab, in retaliation for the 2020 death of King Von in Atlanta.
Durk and his co-defendants have not entered any pleas.
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Lil Durk, one of the more successful rappers to emerge from Chicago’s Drill scene, was arrested late last week in Florida and subsequently charged with murder for hire. In the days since Lil Durk’s arrest, details surrounding the case have emerged and what was revealed was shocking.
Lil Durk, real name Durk Devontay Banks, was arrested on October 24 by the U.S. Marshals Service while he was en route to board a plane that was heading to Italy. Local Miami outlet WSVN obtained a copy of the 11-page criminal complaint that lays out all of the details and allegations of the murder-for-hire plot that targeted rival rapper Quando Rondo but resulted in the death of Rondo’s cousin, Lul Pab.
With Durk singled out as the mastermind of the murder plot, the criminal complaint goes into greater detail about how the investigation developed and ensnared not only the rapper but also members of his Only The Family (OTF) collective.
According to the authorities, Lil Durk is allegedly the designated leader of OTF, which they say operated as a gang and carried out violent acts under his command. The complaint points back to the murder of Dayvon “King Von” Bennett, who was shot and killed on November 6, 2020, by an affiliate of Quando Rondo after an altercation went left.
The complaint states that Durk placed a bounty on Rondo around the time of Von’s passing. Durk reportedly worked alongside fellow suspects Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey, and Asa Houston, who all discovered that Rondo was housed at a Los Angeles hotel around August 18, 2022.
Grant used a card owned by Durk which was connected to the OTF record label operations, booking flights to California and obtaining rental cars. Durk wrote in a text exchange with Grant to not book any flights for anyone connected to the rapper. Durk and Grant flew into Los Angeles before the August 19, 2022 shooting of Lul Pab with Rondo being the chief target. The other suspects flew commercial from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Grant, Wilson, Jones, Lindsey, and Houston were arrested before Durk, which tipped the OTF honcho off to book a pair of international flights to Dubai and Switzerland, but Durk never appeared for those flights. The attempted flight to Italy from Miami is when the U.S. Marshals Service tracked Durk down and brought him in for booking.
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California via the Justice.gov website, authorities have placed their sights squarely on Durk and his co-defendants.
From Justice.gov:
“Mr. Banks is charged with orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Not only that, the shooting occurred in the open, at a gas station at a busy intersection, endangering many others in the area. Violent gun crime of this sort is devastating to our community and we will have zero-tolerance for those who perpetrate such callous acts of violence.”
“The apprehension of Mr. Banks as he attempted to leave the United States is once again proof that the FBI and our extraordinary partners at the Los Angeles Police Department have a long reach” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. “No excuse can justify this violent act and let me be clear: While you’re going about your life, thinking you ‘got away with it,’ the FBI is piecing together the facts that will serve as your undoing.”
Lil Durk will have a pre-detention hearing but the date has not been set.
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