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Why Lil Durk Was Arrested in Murder-For-Hire Plot

Breaking down the court documents, other OTF members' involvement, and rumors of a snitch.

Gabby Sgherri

Rapper Lil Durk was arrested Thursday night (Oct 24) on federal charges alleging that he paid for the attempted 2022 revenge murder of rapper Quando Rondo. The shooting at a gas station did not result in Rondo’s death but rather the death of his cousin. 

Durk was officially charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire according to the FBI affidavit released Oct 25. Other members of Durk’s rap collective, OTF, have also been arrested, and more arrests may be coming, according to court documents filed. 

Durk was in the middle of the rollout for his next album, Deep Thoughts, scheduled for release on Nov 22. It’s currently unclear whether it’ll still be released amid his legal troubles, but the timing couldn’t be worse. 

Among the category of things that didn’t age well are Durk’s recent tweet about no longer being a felon because his record was wiped clean and the keys to Chicago’s Broadview village which were given to him a week before his arrest.

News headlines have taken over social feeds with numerous narratives, including an OTF member allegedly being an informant and Durk attempting to flee the country. Below, we’re breaking down the indictment and everything else we know.

 

What does the indictment say?

The attempted shooting of Rondo stems from the 2020 murder of OTF member King Von at an Atlanta nightclub after he got into a fight with Rondo. A friend of Rondo’s allegedly shot Von multiple times, resulting in his death. 

The indictment alleges that Durk made it widely known amongst his network that he would “pay a bounty” to anyone who killed Rondo and/or reward them with lucrative OTF music opportunities. Two years later, on August 18, 2022, one of Durk’s associates learned that Rondo was staying at a hotel in LA.

That same day, five OTF associates flew from Chicago to San Diego and then drove to LA using funds provided by Durk. An associate booking the flights allegedly received a message from Durk that said, “Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit me.” 

Once in LA, they met Kayon Grant, another OTF associate, who got them hotel rooms, ski masks, two luxury sedans, and guns (one of which was a fully automatic machine gun).

The next day, OTF associates followed Rondo and his cousin to a weed dispensary, a West Hollywood clothing store, and a gas station. They parked the car behind the gas station so they could ambush Rondo. Then got out and opened fire, killing Rondo’s cousin but missing Rondo. 

After the shooting, they went to an In-N-Out hamburger stand to discuss payment with Grant and flew back home to Chicago from San Diego.

What evidence is in the indictment?

We reviewed the 18-page indictment, which is not specific to Durk but rather the attempted shooting of Rondo in general. He’s referred to as “Co-Conspirator 1.” Durk is linked to the plot because OTF credit cards were used to book flights, hotels, and cars and buy supplies for the shooting. Additionally, the indictment references text messages and traffic camera surveillance from the day of the shooting.

 

What other OTF members were charged?

The indictment names five suspects, and the sixth one remains anonymous. Keith Jones, David Lindsey, and the unnamed suspect were allegedly the shooters. Asa Houston was the driver. Kayon Grant and Deandre Wilson handled the logistics and payment of the shooting. 

Grant, Houston, and Wilson were OTF members, but Jones and Lindsey (the shooters) were members of other Chicago gangs. All five of the known suspects were arrested in Chicago on the same conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire charges as Durk.

Did an OTF member snitch on Lil Durk?

Rumors are circulating that an OTF member named “Jam” allegedly wore a wire and cooperated with authorities to gather evidence on the Rondo shooting. Jam was released from prison in 2022 after serving 12 years for attempted murder.

There’s no denying Jam’s connection to Durk and OTF. Durk even references him in the lyrics, “Jammer get out that Jam, I give him fifty, ain’t gotta ask again,” from King Von’s “Back Again.” However, nothing in the indictment mentions “Jam” or an informant and no other court documents support the rumor that a member of OTF snitched.

Was Lil Durk attempting to flee the country?

After the five OTF members were arrested in Chicago early Thursday (Oct 24) morning, Durk allegedly flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and booked two flights—one to Dubai and one to Switzerland. He didn’t get on either and booked a third flight on a private plane to Italy but was arrested before he could board it. 

He’s currently being held along with the other defendants pending their transfer to LA since that’s where the murder occurred.