Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk was arrested near Miami International Airport on October 24, 2024, over allegations that he conspired to kill a rival rapper as part of a murder-for-hire scheme.
Federal prosecutors claim the arrest comes after an investigation linking Durk and his hip-hop collective, Only the Family (O.T.F.), to a 2022 Los Angeles shooting that left one person dead.
According to court documents, Lil Durk—whose legal name is Durk Devontay Banks—allegedly organized a hit against a rival rapper identified in court only as T.B.
Prosecutors assert that the plot was in retaliation for the 2020 killing of Banks’ friend and O.T.F. member, King Von, who died in a shootout in Atlanta.
“Banks orchestrated this cold-blooded murder,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in a statement Friday, adding that the act “endangered innocent lives.”
The complaint details that O.T.F. members Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey, and Asa Houston were also arrested on October 24 in Chicago for their alleged roles in the murder plot.
These five men are accused of conspiring with Lil Durk to carry out the plan, with evidence suggesting they “tracked, stalked, and attempted to kill” T.B. for his alleged involvement in King Von’s death.
Court documents say that in August 2022, Lil Durk and his co-conspirators set their sights on T.B., using O.T.F. resources to locate him.
The complaint alleges that a credit card linked to Banks was used to purchase flights for the hired gunmen from Chicago to California, where they believed T.B. to be hiding.
Just days later, on August 19, 2022, gunmen allegedly opened fire on T.B.’s vehicle at a gas station near West Hollywood, Calif., firing at least 18 rounds. T.B. escaped uninjured, but his cousin, identified in the documents as S.R., was killed in the attack.
Prosecutors claim Lil Durk promised “lucrative music opportunities” as rewards for any associates who participated in T.B.’s killing. They allege that messages from a phone number linked to Durk showed attempts to conceal involvement in the attack, with one text advising, “Don’t book no flights under no names.”
The rapper’s arrest came as he was allegedly about to board a private jet to Italy, following prior attempts to book flights to Dubai and Switzerland.
Federal agents arrested Banks just an hour before his scheduled flight.
In an F.B.I. affidavit, investigators revealed that “witnesses and/or their family members have already received threats” believed to be aimed at dissuading participation in the investigation.
Lil Durk, 32, is set to appear for arraignment in Los Angeles in the coming weeks on charges of conspiracy to use interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death.
If convicted, he faces potentially severe penalties, given the allegations of organizing a murder-for-hire plot that led to a fatal shooting.
The arrest comes just weeks before the scheduled release of his new album, Deep Thoughts, on November 22, and a month after the rapper tweeted about putting his legal troubles behind him.
“Everybody should get second chances at life,” he wrote in a September 22 post. “It’s about what you do with it. My background wiped and clean of all cases. I ain’t a felon anymore.”
As the investigation continues, federal authorities stress that “justice will be sought” for the lives impacted by the alleged retaliation plot.
