Lil Durk Denied Bond In Murder-For-Hire Case, Linked To 2022 Shooting

Lil Durk, who currently faces charges relating to a murder-for-hire case, is being connected to an additional murder as investigators unseal his warrant application issued earlier this year.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the rapper, whose legal name is Durk Devontay Banks, was denied a request for bail at a hearing on Thursday (Dec. 12) in Los Angeles. Investigators presented claims that he was behind the Jan. 27, 2022, killing of Stephon Mack, the alleged leader of the Smashville faction of the Gangster Disciples. The violent incident was allegedly retaliation for the 2021 murder of his brother Dontay Banks Jr.

Although Banks has not been officially charged in the 2022 shooting, the investigation remains open and was used as evidence that he should not be released pending trial.

“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 April 2023 filing, per the Chicago Tribune.

The outlet reported federal investigators analyzed jail phone calls, social media postings, and firearm purchases, as well as lyrics from Lil Durk’s song “Ahhh Ha,” in their inquiry into the murder of Mack, linking Durk to Anthony Montgomery-Wilson and Preston Powell, two men charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in the shooting.

Investigators allegedly discovered a two-person text message conversation that mentioned “OTF” Banks Only The Family Entertainment record label that is currently facing a civil lawsuit alongside Alamo Records, Sony Music Entertainment Inc., Universal Music Group Recordings Inc. (Interscope Records), and Empire Distribution Inc. for the death of FBG Duck, legal name Carlton Weekly.

The Grammy-winning rhymer offered to put up his two homes in Georgia, worth a combined $2.3 million, as well as $1 million in cash from Sony Music, to secure a release, which a U.S. magistrate judge denied. In its argument, the prosecution claimed Banks’ proposed bond conditions “are woefully inadequate to protect the community and vital witnesses from harm and to mitigate (the) defendant’s risk of flight.”

“We were obviously disappointed, but will continue to fight on,” elaborated Banks’ lawyer Johnathan Brayman to the outlet. “Mr. Banks remains confident and optimistic about the future. He deeply appreciates the outpouring of love and support he has felt since his arrest.”

Banks was taken into custody in October in Florida as he and others affiliated with OTF were indicted as “co-conspirators in a murder-for-hire plot.” The following month, he was charged with “one count of conspiracy, one count of use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and one count of using, carrying, and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possession of such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.”

According to the Tribune, this week’s hearing included prosecutors in Los Angeles referring to “other murders” allegedly ordered by Banks.

“Evidence collected in this case also shows (the) defendant has allegedly placed monetary bounties to solicit other murders, including a family member of a witness,” prosecutors wrote. “Defendant’s modus operandi is clear: he will use his power, his money, his influence, and any pretrial release to endanger anyone who he perceives as a threat, including witnesses in this case.”

Lil Durk has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.