A federal grand jury in Los Angeles this week approved new charges against Lil Durk in a 2022 murder-for-hire plot that targeted a rival rapper but instead left the man’s cousin dead.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced Friday that a grand jury had returned an indictment dismissing the charge against Lil Durk — Durk Banks, 32, of Chicago — on one count of conspiracy and one count of using interstate facilities to commit murder for hire resulting in death. He also charged him with one count of using, carrying and discharging firearms and a machine gun, as well as possessing such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.
Banks, 32, remained in Miami’s federal lockup Friday, where he has been since his arrest last month, apparently while trying to flee the country on a private jet. He is being held without bail pending transfer to Los Angeles to face charges. Hearing dates have not been set.
Banks and five others were indicted last month in separate cases alleging a cross-country plot to avenge the 2020 killing of King Von, born Dayvon Bennett, another Chicago rapper and close friend of Banks who was shot in Atlanta in 2020. the original indictment was: Kavon London Grant; Deandre Dontrell Wilson; Keith Jones; David Brian Lindsey; and Asa Houston. Indictment hearings for the six are expected in the coming weeks, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Banks is accused of offering money and “lucrative musical opportunities” to anyone who would kill Quando Rondo, a Georgia-based rapper whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman.
Bowman, his sister and his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, 24, were riding in Bowman’s black Cadillac Escalade near a gas station in West Hollywood in August 2022 when gunmen opened fire, according to the charges. Bowman and his sister were unhurt, but Robinson was struck several times and killed.
OTF was founded by Lil Durk over a decade ago, as Chicago’s Drill Rap scene was gaining international attention. Federal prosecutors say the group “primarily produced and sold hip hop music” by Chicago artists.
FBG Duck, the Chicago rapper, was killed in a hail of gunfire on Oak Street in 2020, and his death led to the conviction of several men in a federal conspiracy trial last January. Earlier this month, FBG Duck’s mother filed a lawsuit alleging that Lil Durk, OTF and King Von were also involved in the shooting. The suit alleges that the FTO operates as a criminal enterprise.
According to the original indictment, after following Bowman to the Los Angeles area, Grant rented a hotel room for the co-conspirators on August 18, 2022, and later met them there. He had brought several firearms, including one that had been modified to function as a fully automatic machine gun.
Grant also provided two rented vehicles to “use to find, track and kill” Bowman, the indictment states, a white BMW sedan and a white Infiniti. The group followed and stalked Bowman’s black Escalade from his hotel to a marijuana dispensary and then a clothing store in downtown Los Angeles, the indictment states.
Surveillance footage included in the indictment allegedly shows the BMW and Infiniti following the Escalade as it moved between stores.
When Bowman stopped at a gas station, Houston walked into the alley and let Jones, Lindsey and another unidentified co-conspirator carry out the shooting, according to the indictment.
Jason Meisner of the Chicago Tribune contributed.
