New details released on Chicago rapper Lil Durk's arrest – NBC Chicago

New details were revealed Friday in the arrest of rapper Lil Durk, who was taken into federal custody in Florida this week on murder-for-hire charges.

The Chicago rapper's arrest came just an hour before he was scheduled to leave the country on a flight to Italy, according to new documents obtained by NBC Chicago.

According to the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials were alerted that the rapper, whose real name is Devontay Durk Banks, had been booked as a passenger on two international flights on Thursday. One flight was from Miami to Dubai and another from Fort Lauderdale to Switzerland. However, none of the flights were boarded.

Agents said Banks later booked a third flight on a private plane that was scheduled to take off from Miami to Italy. However, he was arrested “near the departure airport” an hour before departure.

The Chicago-based rapper had just performed at a birthday party at the city's United Center over the weekend.

Banks was charged with murder-for-hire when five members of the Chicago-based “Only the Family” (OTF) crew, with which Banks has ties, were indicted as co-conspirators in an assassination attempt in Los Angeles, California.

A grand jury indicted OTF members Kavon London Grant, known as “Cuz” or “Vonnie,” Deandre Dontrell Wilson, known as “DeDe,” Asa Houston, known as “Boogie,” and five unnamed conspirators, as well as Keith Jones . known as “Flacka,” and David Brian Lindsey, known as “Browneyez,” who are described as “members of other gangs in Chicago.”

The indictment alleged that the men attacked rapper Quando Rondo, identified as TB, in retaliation for the shooting of another Chicago rapper, King Von, who was part of OTF and had collaborated on music with Lil Durk.

OTF is known as a rap collective, but according to the criminal complaint released Friday, it is also “a de facto association of individuals who engage in violence, including murder and assault.”

But a criminal complaint obtained by NBC Chicago said it was Banks who put up a “bounty” for the murder after his friend was killed.

“Evidence shows that Banks ordered the murder of TB and that the hit men used funding from Banks and OTF to carry out the murder,” the lawsuit says.

What happened?

According to the indictment, the incident first began on November 6, 2020, when an OTF member, described only as “DB,” was involved in a “physical altercation with TB” at a nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia.

During the fight, a TB associate pulled out a gun and shot DB multiple times, killing him.” While authorities did not name DB in the indictment, rapper King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, was named on the same day killed. NBC News reported at the time that another man, 34-year-old Mark Blakely, was also killed in the shooting and four others were injured, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

After DB's murder, someone described as “Co-Conspirator 1” used coded language to make it clear that he would “pay a bounty or cash reward and/or pay anyone involved in the killing of TB.” his role in the murder of DB.”

“iCloud records indicate that a phone number associated with Banks texted Co-Conspirator 3: 'Do not book flights under any name associated with me.'”

Then on August 18, 2022, when Wilson, Jones, Lindsey, Houston, Grant and Co-Conspirators 2 learned that TB was staying at a hotel in Los Angeles, they traveled from Illinois to California to “track, stalk and attempt to kill to undertake”. TB from gunshots – even with a fully automatic firearm.”

Separately, Banks also traveled to California with Grant on a private jet.

“Later that day, Grant purchased ski masks that allowed the shooters to commit the murder and paid for the other co-conspirators’ hotel rooms with a credit card in Banks’ name,” the complaint states.

The men pursued TB's black Escalade to a gas station on Beverly Boulevard and fired multiple shots at the SUV – resulting in the death of SR, a passenger in TB's vehicle, according to the documents.

The charges against the five men include conspiracy and use of interstate facilities to commit contract killing resulting in death, carrying and firing firearms and machine guns and possession of such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death, possession of a machine gun and criminal confiscation .

Banks is now also charged with conspiracy to use interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, the complaint states.

According to the documents, Wilson paid the bounty to his co-conspirators.

It is not immediately clear whether the men have retained lawyers.

Who is Lil Durk?

According to Billboard, Chicago-born and raised Banks launched his 2015 debut studio album, Remember My Name, on YouTube and MySpace, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard 200.

He has collaborated with artists such as Drake and J. Cole and has received several Grammy nominations, including one for Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance.

What else you should know

Banks had previously faced charges related to a shooting in Atlanta, but those charges were dropped in 2022.

In September he celebrated his record on social media.

“My background has been cleared from all cases. I'm no longer a felon. Who would have thought? I would like to thank everyone who helped me advance my vision. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Banks wrote on Twitter earlier.

Banks, 32, is also being sued by the mother of slain fellow Chicago rapper FBG Duck, who claims Banks and his record label profited from Duck's 2020 shooting.

Banks also made financial contributions to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's campaign.

Asked Friday what Johnson planned to do with those donations following the allegations, the mayor said he would not make any decisions before a conviction.

“I don’t know all the circumstances and details of these allegations,” Johnson told reporters. “What I do know is that Lil Durk is trying to improve the financial literacy of children across the city and make other important investments for the children of the city, which is where, you know, his heart has been. And, I mean, there's no secret about the trauma he grew up with and how he worked to turn that trauma into opportunities for other people.