Posted at 6:22 PM, October 25, 2024
and last updated 7:26 PM, October 25, 2024
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Durk has been arrested in Florida on federal charges that he paid for the attempted 2022 revenge killing of rapper Quando Rondo at a Los Angeles gas station, a shooting that resulted in the death of Rondo’s cousin.
FILE – Lil Durk poses in the press room with the award for best melodic rap performance for “All My Life” by Lil Durk featuring J. Cole during the 66th annual Grammy Awards, Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Durk, 32, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in the slaying of Saviay’a Robinson, 24, who was gunned down on Aug. 19, 2022, according to an FBI affidavit released Friday.
Five other members of Durk’s Chicago-based rap collective, “Only the Family” or “OTF,” have also been arrested and at least two more arrests may be forthcoming, according to court documents that have been filed. Durk was arrested Thursday night in South Florida as he attempted to flee the country, the FBI says.
Durk, whose real name is Durk Banks, won a Grammy earlier this year for Best Melodic Rap Performance for his song “All My Life,” which featured J. Cole. He has also been nominated three times and was a featured performer on Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later.”
Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for Los Angeles, called the shooting “a cold-blooded murder.”
“The shooting occurred in the open, at a gas station at a busy intersection, endangering many others in the area,” Estrada said in a statement. “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.”
FBI Agent Sarah Corcoran said in her affidavit that OTF members engage “in violence, including murder and assault, at the direction of Banks and to maintain their status in OTF.”
Durk’s representatives did not immediately respond to emails Friday seeking comment.
According to Corcoran’s affidavit and other federal court records, the shooting stems from the November 2020 slaying of OTF rapper King Von, 26, at an Atlanta nightclub after Von and Rondo got into a fight. Records say a friend of Rondo’s pulled a gun and shot Von several times, killing him. Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, had two hit singles, ″Crazy Story″ and “Took Her to the O.”
Authorities say Durk made it known that he would “pay a bounty” to anyone who killed Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Bowman.
Almost two years later, a murder plot quickly came together, Corcoran wrote.
On Aug. 18, 2022, Durk’s associates learned that Rondo was staying at a Los Angeles hotel. That day, Deandre Wilson, Keith Jones, David Lindsey, Asa Houston and a fifth unnamed suspect flew from Chicago to San Diego and then drove to Los Angeles using funds provided by Durk,