Five people in Chicago have been hit with federal charges in California alleging they were contracted to kill rapper Quando Rondo in Los Angeles due to his suspected involvement in the 2020 slaying of rival artist King Von.
Charged in the indictment, which was unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, are: Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston.
The charges include conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, committing murder-for-hire involving a death, and use of a machine gun in a violent crime resulting in death. The most serious charge carries up to the death penalty if convicted.
The indictment alleges that all five have ties to “Only the Family,” also known as OTF, a hip-hop collective founded by South Side rapper Lil Durk, a mentor of King Von. The flights and rental cars were paid for with credit cards linked to OTF, according to prosecutors.
Two of those charged are Chicago street gang members, according to authorities.
All five were arrested Thursday in the Chicago area and appeared at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in the afternoon. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert ordered the defendants held in custody pending further proceedings and the shift of the case to Los Angeles.
The charges mark the latest fallout from the high-profile killing of King Von, 26, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, in a fight outside an Atlanta hookah Lounge on Nov. 6, 2020.
The indictment alleged that after King Von’s slaying, an unnamed co-conspirator who is part of OTF offered money and “lucrative music opportunities” to anyone who would kill Quando Rondo, a Georgia-based rapper whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman.
Bowman, his sister, and his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, 24, were riding in Bowman’s black Cadillac Escalade near a gas station in West Hollywood in August 2022 when gunmen opened fire, according to the charges.
Bowman and his sister were uninjured, but Robinson was struck multiple times and killed.
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