Five associates of Chicago rapper King Von charged in L.A. murder-for-hire retaliatory shooting

Five associates of Chicago rapper King Von have been charged with being hired to kill rival rapper Quando Rondo two years ago in Los Angeles over his alleged involvement in the 2020 slaying of King Von.

The indictment was unsealed Thursday in the U.S. Central District Court of California. It charges Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, committing murder-for-hire involving a death and use of a machine gun in a violent crime resulting in death.

The indictment alleges that after King Von’s slaying, a co-conspirator not named in the indictment offered “money and lucrative music opportunities with OTF” to anyone who took part in killing Quando Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Bowman. Quando Rondo was not wounded in the 2022 shooting in California, but his cousin, 24-year-old Saviay’a Robinson, was fatally shot.

All five were arrested Thursday in Chicago and appeared for their first court appearance at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, where a judge ordered them all held in custody while pending trial.

The five were connected with “Only the Family,” or “OTF,” a hip-hop collective formed by Chicago rapper Lil Durk that produces and sells drill rap from artists primarily from Chicago, according to the indictment. King Von was a high-ranking member of the group.

King Von, whose real name is Dayvon Bennett, was among three people who were killed in a shooting Nov. 6, 2020, outside a club in Atlanta.

In August 2022, Wilson allegedly recruited Jones, Lindsey and Houston to travel from Chicago to California after learning that Quando Rondo was staying at a hotel in Los Angeles. They arranged same-day flights from Chicago to San Diego using a credit card associated with OTF, according to the indictment.

Grant, who flew in a private jet from Miami to Los Angeles, is accused of providing firearms — one that was modified to operate as a fully automatic machine gun — to Jones, Lindsey and an unnamed co-conspirator.

Grant also provided two cars — a white BMW sedan from a rental company and a white Infiniti sedan with fake license plates — which the group used “to find, track, and kill” Quando Rondo, the indictment alleges. Grant also booked a hotel room for the group, and he bought four ski masks that were allegedly worn during the shooting.

On Aug. 18, 2022, and into the next day, the group drove to a hotel where Quando Rondo was staying and waited for him to leave. From the two cars, the group followed Quando Rondo, who was a passenger in a black Cadillac Escalade, throughout the area — to a marijuana dispensary, a clothing store and a gas station, the indictment alleges.

Houston then allegedly drove the Infiniti to an alley behind the gas station and parked it to let Jones, Lindsey and an unnamed co-conspirator out of the car so they could ambush Quando Rondo, according to the indictment.

They fired shots at the Escalade, fatally striking Quando Rondo’s cousin, Robinson, who was standing next to the Escalade while Quando Rondo was inside the gas station, according to the indictment. Quando Rondo was not injured.

The defendants and unnamed co-conspirators fled the scene to a hamburger restaurant, where they discussed payments for the shooting. They boarded flights later that day back to Chicago, and Jones and Lindsey were later paid unspecified amounts of money for their role in the killing, according to the indictment.

The indictment also alleges that Jones and Lindsey were members of Chicago street gangs.

OTF was formed by Lil Durk in 2010 around the same time the drill rap subgenre originated. The subgenre is characterized by its monotone lyrics that reference gang violence.

Another Chicago drill rapper, FBG Duck, was killed in 2020 in a gang-related shooting in the Gold Coast. His mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit this month that seeks to connect Lil Durk and King Von to the killing.