Grammy Winner Lil Durk Ordered Killing Near Beverly Center: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA —Grammy-winning rapper Lil' Durk was arrested Thursday in connection with a murder-for-hire plot targeting a rival rapper in Los Angeles.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the 32-year-old "All My Life" Chicago rapper, whose real name is Durk Banks, was the mastermind behind a hit carried out in dramatic fashion at a gas station across fron the Beverly Center in August of 22.

“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.”

Banks, who won a Grammy this year for best melodic rap performance and has another album due out this month, was arrested in Florida Thursday on the same day five members of his hip-hop group, Only the Family, were charged in Los Angeles in the attempted murder of rival rapper Tyquian Bowman aka Quando Rondo.

The five men were reportedly arrested in Chicago.

A Los Angeles federal grand jury last week indicted Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston with crimes arising from the murder, including murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder-for- hire resulting in death.

“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.”

According to the affidavit filed Thursday in Los Angeles, Banks ordered the murder Bowman and paid for his co-conspirators to fly to Los Angeles, stalk and shoot Bowman in revenge for the earlier killing of Banks' associate.

The feud stemmed from a November 6, 2020, murder in which an associate of the victim shot and killed an OTF rapper named Dayvon Bennett, a.k.a. “King Von,” according to the FBI. Bennett and Banks were close friends.

In response to Bennett’s murder, Banks put a bounty on T.B.’s life, prosecutors allege.

The hitmen used money from Banks and OTF-related finances to carry out the hit, according to the Justice Department. Bank and flight records show that an OTF member and close associate of Banks coordinated and paid for five co-conspirators to travel from Chicago to California on the day before the murder.

Around the time the one-way flights were purchased, Banks told the OTF associate booking the flights, “Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit [sic] me,” according to the affidavit.

The same day the hitmen traveled from Chicago to California, Banks also traveled to California in a private jet with another conspirator, Grant, 28, a.k.a. “Cuz” and “Vonnie,” according to prosecutors. Later that day, Grant allegedly purchased ski masks for the shooters to use to commit the murder and paid – using a credit card in Banks’ name – for the other co-conspirators’ hotel room, prosecutors allege.

The day of the shooting didn't go as planned, according to prosecutors.

On August 19, 2022, several OTF members and associates used two vehicles and worked in tandem to track, stalk, and attempt to murder T.B. for hours, culminating in a shooting at a gasoline station located near the Beverly Center mall, according to the affidavit.

The co-conspirators fired at least 18 rounds at Bowman's black Cadillac Escalade, striking and killing one of his relatives instead.

The driver of the Escalade fled to West Hollywood, where a bystander flagged down police to help the shooting victim. The victim was rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital and declared dead.

“Cases like these that span multiple states and jurisdictions are complicated and can oftentimes only be resolved through the collaboration of multiple departments,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi. “This 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. The hundreds of hours spent on the investigation included surveillance, authoring numerous search warrants, using forensic technology, and tireless investigative travel and collaboration alongside our federal partners led to this arrest. I am appreciative of the dedication of those involved.”