Lil Durk Faces New Federal Charges in Connection with 2022 L.A. Slaying

Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk is facing new federal charges after being named in a superseding indictment in connection with a fatal ambush near Los Angeles’ Beverly Center shopping mall two years ago.

The 32-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Durk Banks, was charged last month with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.

He was charged Friday in a superseding federal grand jury indictment 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 Justice Department announced.

Durk was arrested near Miami International Airport on Oct. 17 after allegedly conspiring with members of the hip-hop organization Only the Family to murder rival rapper Quando Rondo’s cousin in 2022. The killing was allegedly in retaliation for the 2020 murder of Durk’s close friend and OTF rapper King Von, according to the Justice Department.

Five members of OTF — Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston — have also been charged in connection with the 2022 shooting, which occurred at a gas station near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles.

Durk is accused of ordering the murder and paying hitmen with OTF-related finances. According to bank and flight records obtained by authorities, an associate of Durk allegedly “coordinated and paid for five co-conspirators to travel from Chicago to California on the day before the murder.” Durk allegedly told the associate not to book any flights “under no names involved wit [sic] me,” according to the Justice Department.

“Mr. Banks is charged with orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a press release. “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.”

Durk is currently being held without bail in Miami until he can be transferred to Los Angeles for arraignment. None of the six defendants, who will be arraigned in Los Angeles in coming weeks, have entered a plea to the charges.

Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi said that Durk’s arrest is “the culmination of the combined efforts of our partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and LAPD’s Operation West Bureau Homicide detectives who discovered that Durk D a.k.a. Lil Durk was involved in this heinous murder.”

Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI Los Angeles field office, added that “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.”

“No excuse can justify this violent act,” Davis continued, “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.”

Based in Chicago, Durk is known as one of the pioneers of drill music. The rapper has released three top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won his first Grammy in 2024 for his hit single “All My Life” featuring J. Cole.

Durk’s co-defendants are currently being held in federal custody in Illinois after their initial court appearances in Chicago. They are being 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.

Durk and his co-defendants could face life in federal prison if convicted.

via: The Hollywood Reporter

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