Indictment reveals Chicago rapper Lil Durk connected to murder of suspected gang leader Stephon Mack

Chicago rapper Lil Durk has been linked to the murder of alleged gang leader Stephon Mack, according to newly unsealed court records. 

Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, has been accused of being involved in a deadly shooting that took place in 2022. The accusation comes from a warrant application dated April 2023, as reported by the Chicago Times.

Mack, 24 years old and believed to be the head of the Smashville group linked to the ‘Gangster Disciples’, was shot and killed in Illinois as he was leaving the Youth Peace Center of Roseland on West 111th Street in January of that year.

According to the warrant application, Durk is suspected of playing a role in Mack’s murder, as part of an alleged retaliation plan for the killing of his brother, Dontay Banks. Dontay was murdered by a faction of the ‘Gangster Disciples’ associated with Smashville, as revealed in the warrant application.

Dontay, who also went by DThang, was killed outside Club O in Chicago in June 2021 after suffering a gunshot wound to the head. 

‘Lil Durk was and still is offering money for people to kill those responsible for his brother’s murder, and more specifically, offering to pay money for any Gangster Disciple that is killed,’ a federal agent wrote in the warrant application, reviewed by the outlet. 

The Grammy Award-winning rapper, 32, is currently facing murder-for-hire charges in Los Angeles after being arrested in October for allegedly paying five associates of his South Side rap group, Only The Family (OTF), to kill Quando Rondo, born Terrell Bowman in August 2022. 

While Bowman and his sister were left unharmed from the shooting that took place at a gas station in West Hollywood, his 24-year-old cousin Saviay’a Robinson suffered several gunshot wounds and died as a result.

Durk has not been charged in connection to the new allegations. Law enforcement sources told the Chicago Tribune the Chicago investigation is still open. 

The application was unsealed a day before Durk’s detention hearing for his murder-for-hire case. 

A year after Mack was gunned down, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago announced charges against Anthony Montgomery-Wilson, 24, and Preston Powell, 23.

The pair were charged with conspiracy to use an interstate facility in the commission of a murder for hire, and individual murder-for-hire count, according to the indictment. Montgomery-Wilson also faces a firearm charge. 

The indictment revealed that both Montgomery-Wilson and Powell ‘conspired with each other and others to murder Stephon Mack in exchange for money.’ 

During the fatal shooting, a security guard was wounded but survived, the release said. 

Montgomery-Wilson and Powell used a cellphone and a 2014 Chrysler 300 to commit the murder, the indictment continued. 

At the time, the U.S.Attorney’s office also released images of the suspected gunman, as Montgomery-Wilson was seen approaching Mack with a gun in hand, while Powell was seen pointing a firearm toward him.

While looking into Mack’s death, federal investigators combed through social media postings, jail phone calls, firearms purchases, and even looked at lyrics from Durk’s song ‘Ahh Ha,’ which was released about a month after he passed. 

The warrant also alleged that both Montgomery-Wilson and Powell ‘may have exchanged text messages concerning payments for Mack’s murder.’ 

Authorities also found a text conversation between two people that mentioned ‘OTF’ – Durk’s rap group, the indictment stated. 

In one exchange on February 10, 2022, one person asked ‘Wassup with otf,’ as another responded ‘Nothing,’ the legal document showed. 

A little over a week later, the two people had another conversation, as one asked ‘Did durk gave [sic] u that money?,’ the warrant application showed. 

The rapper’s attorneys hit back at the prosecution focusing on his client’s music last week, adding that Durk has been involved in giving back to his Chicago community for years. 

‘When you see an artist’s rap lyrics quoted as “evidence” against them, it is a glaring indication that there is no real evidence against that person,’ Banks’ attorneys told the Chicago Tribune. 

‘The real truth is that Durk Banks is a Grammy Award-winning artist, a dedicated father and a loving husband. 

‘Mr. Banks has been intensely committed to giving back to the Chicago community he loves through his Neighborhood Heroes Foundation and has put on more than a dozen charitable events over the last few years. He is looking forward to fighting against these false allegations in court,’ they added. 

The ‘All My Life’ singer has been held without bond in Florida since October 24 after he was arrested by authorities while on his way to a Miami-area airport after he was ‘booked on multiple international flights.’ 

In October, the five associates linked to the Los Angeles shooting death – Kavon London Grant, 28,  Deandre Dontrell Wilson, 33, Keith Jones, 33, David Brian Lindsey, 33, and Asa Houston, 36 – were charged for their alleged involvement. 

OTF is a hip-hop collective set up by Durk who was a mentor of fellow rapper King Von.

The plot to shoot Quando Rando is allegedly due to his supposed involvement in the 2020 death of King Von.

King Von, real name Dayvon Bennett, was killed during a brawl outside a hookah lounge in Atlanta in November 2020.

Following his death, an unnamed co-conspirator who is part of OTF offered money and ‘lucrative music opportunities’ to anyone who would kill Quando Rondo.