Rapper Lil Durk cuffed in Miami after trying to flee murder-for-hire charges, feds say

Rap superstar Lil Durk was arrested in South Florida after FBI agents intercepted the Grammy Award-winning musician’s abrupt attempt to flee on a private jet to Italy — accusing him of being the mastermind who orchestrated a murder-for-hire scheme involving a rival rapper, according to federal documents released Friday.

The 32-year-old Chicago native, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, was arrested Thursday evening near Miami International Airport and transferred to Broward County Main Jail by the U.S Marshal’s Service.

Banks was held in the Main Jail and made his initial appearance Friday afternoon before a magistrate judge in U.S. District Court in Miami. He waived an identity hearing and agreed to remain in custody to be taken to Los Angeles, where he will appear in court.

A representative for Banks could not immediately be reached for comment.

In Banks’ complaint unsealed by a California federal judge, investigators redacted the identities of multiple witnesses and their families due to “serious safety concerns.” The indictment noted many of them received threats and have been contacted in “what appear to be attempts to influence their participation in this investigation.”

‘Only the Family’ head honcho

Banks is accused of ordering the killing of Quando Rondo in August 2022 at a Los Angeles gas station, where gunfire erupted and killed Rondo’s cousin, Lul Pab, born Saviay’a Robinson, according to his indictment.

“Mr. Banks is charged with orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in a statement. “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.”

As Banks was taken into custody Thursday, federal prosecutors in California announced the arrest of five others: Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston — whose charges include murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire conspiracy and use of a machine gun in a violent crime resulting in death.

All of the suspects have ties to hip-hop collective “Only the Family” or “OTF,” a record label that Banks formed in 2010 around the same time that the polarizing drill rap subgenre orginated.

The members of “OTF” are accused of engaging in violence “including murder and assault, at the direction of Banks and to maintain their status in ‘OTF’,” according to the indictment.

Investigators say “OTF” operated as a “hybrid organization” that functions as a “Banks-led music collective and a gang.”

The plot was aimed at Rondo, real name Tyquian Terrel Bowman, in retaliation for his suspected involvement in the 2020 death of emerging rapper King Von, also known as Dayvon Daquan Bennett, an “OTF” affiliate who was close friends with Banks, according to the group’s indictment.

The federal document alleges that Banks put out a “monetary bounty” on Bowman.

The defendants were offered money and “lucrative music opportunities with OTF,” in exchange for killing Bowman, according to the indictment. A credit card associated with OTF was used to purchase airplane tickets to fly to California and murder Bowman, the indictment detailed.

Banks even told a member of the group: “Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit me.”

The group is accused of ambushing Bowman at a gas station and opening fire. Surveillance video shows the bullets missed Bowman but fatally wounded Robinson, the indictment reveals. Lindsey, Jones and a third unnamed suspect were identified as the ones who opened fire and killed Robinson. Afterward, the group flew home to Chicago from San Diego.

Now, more than two years after the deadly shooting, Banks’ associates were arrested in Chicago early Thursday after law enforcement agencies executed warrants.

As that unfolded, Banks was booking international travel.

He scheduled two flights from South Florida airports: one from Miami to Dubai; and another one from Fort Lauderdale to Switzerland.

But Banks never made it onto either flight.

Instead, the FBI learned around 6:40 p.m. that Banks had booked a private flight to Italy that was scheduled to depart at 9 p.m.

He was subsequently found and arrested in the vicinity of the departing airport about an hour before takeoff, per the indictment.

“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” Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement.

If convicted, Banks and his five associates charged would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

Prolific rap career marked by turmoil

Durk is among the most successful drill rappers to come out of Chicago since the genre first gained international attention in the early 2010s. Also popularized by Chief Keef, G Herbo and other artists, drill is hallmarked by its monotone, hyper-violent lyrics that often detail feuds between rivaling gang factions.

Because of the subgenre’s reputation and his alleged gang affiliations, this isn’t the first time that the self-proclaimed “Voice of the Trenches” has been on law enforcement’s radar.

Banks has previously faced an attempted murder charge related to a 2019 shooting near a popular restaurant in Atlanta, but prosecutors dropped the charge and several others in 2022.

His co-defendant in the case is the now-deceased Bennett. When the pair were issued warrants several months after the shooting, Banks released a song called “Turn Myself In” in which he denounced the accusations as false and proclaimed his innocence.

Then earlier this month, the mother of FGB Duck, a now-deceased Chicago drill rapper, filed a lawsuit linking Banks and Bennett to her son’s gang-related slaying in city’s ritzy Gold Coast neighborhood in August 2020.

The suit claims that Duck, whose real name was Carlton Weekly, was shot to death in daylight by masked assailants outside a Dolce & Gabbana store, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The lawsuit goes on to accused “OTF” of functioning as a “criminal enterprise.”

Key to the city rescinded

Banks’ arrest Thursday also comes just a week after he was honored by Cook County, Illinois, for efforts to uplift underserved communities in Chicago through his Neighborhood Heroes Foundation, which is also expected to send water and food supplies to Florida to help with Hurricane Milton recovery efforts. He was awarded multiple keys to the city, including from the Village of Broadview and Village of Bellwood.

But Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson announced Friday afternoon that she would be taking back the honorary key from Banks and severing ties with Neighborhood Heroes Foundation.

“As mayor, protecting Broadview’s interests and upholding the values of residents is job number one,” she wrote on the Village’s Facebook page.

In a September post made on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Banks celebrated upon learning that his years-long criminal record had been cleared — finally.

“Everybody should get second chances at life...” he wrote. ”My background wiped and clean of all cases. I ain’t a felon anymore. Who would have thought?”

Miami Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.

This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 10:30 AM.