Federal prosecutors said Thursday that rapper Lil Durk, who is accused of commissioning a murder two years ago in Los Angeles, may be linked to another killing in Chicago — allegations that helped convince a judge to order the Grammy Award winner to remain jailed as his case proceeds.
During a detention hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue said the 32-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Durk Devontay Banks, has significant resources and the ability to flee.
Lawyers for Banks had pressed for his release, offering a bond secured by $2.3 million in equity in two homes in Georgia and $1 million in cash. They also said they would hire around-the-clock security to ensure compliance with conditions imposed by the court.
More than 30 people, including family, friends and Sony Music representatives, packed into the courtroom, which Assistant U.S. Atty. Ian Yanniello said demonstrated the fact that Banks “is a powerful and influential man who has significant resources.”
“This case is about how he used that power and used that influence and how he used those resources to promote and perpetuate violence with deadly consequence,” Yanniello said.
Banks is accused of ordering the murder of Tyquian Bowman, a Georgia rapper called Quando Rondo, whose cousin was killed in a botched ambush near the Beverly Center mall in Los Angeles in 2022. Banks has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to an indictment, Banks sought to commercialize the shooting death by rapping about his revenge “with music that explicitly references audio from a news clip” of Bowman screaming “no, no!” after seeing his cousin’s body.
In court Thursday, Drew Findling, Banks’ attorney, challenged that assertion, stating that the song prosecutors referenced was recorded eight months before the shooting.
The prosecutor countered that the indictment “lists significant evidence of Mr. Banks’ involvement.”
In a brief filed Thursday, prosecutors also cited a separate federal case in Chicago, involving the killing of Stephon Mack outside a youth center.
A search warrant originally filed under seal in April 2023 and filed publicly with redactions Wednesday alleges that Banks “offer[ed] 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.”
Banks’ brother, Dontay Banks, Jr., was shot and killed outside a nightclub in Harvey, Ill., in June 2021, according to the search warrant.
“Evidence collected in this case also shows defendant has allegedly placed monetary bounties to solicit other murders, including a family member of a witness,” California prosecutors stated in their brief. “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.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Illinois said two people have been charged in Mack’s slaying: Anthony Montgomery-Wilson and Preston Powell. Asked whether Banks has been or will be charged, the spokesperson declined to comment.
Jonathan Brayman, one of Banks’ attorneys, said after the detention hearing that his client has not been charged in connection with the Chicago shooting and “we do not anticipate that he will be charged.”
“The news that’s coming out of there has nothing to do with us,” Findling added. “Our client has nothing to do with that; that’s not part of our case.”
During his detention hearing, Banks smiled at his wife and mother, who cried during the proceeding. Banks blew a kiss to his wife as U.S. marshals led him away.
“We love you,” his family and friends shouted at him in the hallway outside the courtroom.
