US rapper Lil Durk arrested in Florida on murder-for-hire charge
According to CBS News, which partners with the BBC in the US, Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Durk has been taken into custody on a murder-for-hire accusation.
Reports from US media indicate that the artist, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, was taken into custody in Broward County, Florida, on Thursday evening and is currently being held without bail.
The arrest follows just one day after five individuals associated with Banks' hip-hop collective, Only The Family (OTF), were said to have been charged in Chicago regarding a shooting from 2022 that resulted in the death of the cousin of rival rapper Quando Rondo.
Since 2019, Lil Durk has placed six albums in the top five of the US Billboard charts. He has also teamed up with major artists like Drake and J Cole on popular singles.
The 33-year-old from Chicago has been nominated for four Grammy Awards. In February, they won the award for Best Melodic Rap Performance for their song "All My Life," which features J. Cole.
Lil Durk established OTF in 2010, and the group is a key player in the drill rap scene of the city.
Authorities claim that the five individuals who were charged on Wednesday orchestrated the shooting in Los Angeles in 2022 as a direct response to the 2020 death of up-and-coming rapper King Von, who was affiliated with OTF, according to reports from U.S. media.
A friend of Quando Rondo faced accusations related to King Von's murder, but those accusations were eventually dismissed. Quando Rondo himself was neither arrested nor charged in connection with the case.
The Chicago Sun-Times has revealed that the latest charges against five individuals claim that an unidentified accomplice provided "financial incentives and exciting music prospects with OTF" to anyone involved in the murder of Quando Rondo.
In 2022, a group of men reportedly opened fire on a vehicle that was traveling with Quando Rondo, along with his sister and cousin Saviay'a Robinson.
Quando Rondo and his sister were safe, but Robinson lost his life.
Earlier this month, the mother of a Chicago rapper named FBG Duck allegedly filed a lawsuit claiming that Lil Durk, OTF, and King Von were connected to his fatal shooting in 2020.
Two years ago, Lil Durk had attempted murder charges dismissed that were related to a shooting incident in Atlanta in 2019, which did not result in any fatalities.
The BBC has reached out to Lil Durk's team for a statement.
