Latest news with #OnlytheFamily
TimesLIVE
7 days ago
- General
- TimesLIVE
Western Cape gangs recruit 12-year-olds, fuelling rise in child murders
Children are also used as shooters, as impressionable youngsters keen to prove themselves are often more easily influenced to carry out acts of violence. 'Craven Engel, a pastor who runs Ceasefire, a gang violence prevention organisation, described a 12-year-old boy he had assisted, who had been recruited as a gunman for the Only the Family gang, as 'brainwashed to kill people',' the report reads. 'Many sources report that these younger gangs are in fact more reckless and aggressive than previous generations, as they are less familiar with the codes of conduct that — at times — regulate and control violence. This, in turn, has contributed to the higher rates of child murder, with children increasingly becoming both perpetrators and victims.' The report said another sign of rising child recruitment into gangs is the growing number of children getting into trouble with the law. Magistrates and court officials have noticed more children being charged with gang-related crimes, such as drug possession, murder, attempted murder, robbery, sexual offences, and assault. The GI-TOC also reported that feared alleged 28s street gang boss Ralph Stanfield had been inducted into the prison gang. According to the report, Stanfield, arrested in 2023 on multiple charges, used his reputation to quickly enter the 28s prison gang — a rare achievement in South African prisons. Charges against Stanfield and his wife, Nicole, in a R1bn Cape Town housing corruption case were recently provisionally withdrawn. 'During his incarceration, he has managed to bypass the customary years-long progression through the hierarchical structure of the Numbers, one of the world's oldest prison gang cultures, to become an ndota [member of a prison gang],' the report reads.
Hindustan Times
14-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
OTF rapper Doodie Lo shot and robbed in Atlanta? What we know
Unconfirmed reports claim that rapper Doodie Lo was shot during a robbery in Atlanta on Tuesday. According to AkademiksTV, the incident occurred at 2423 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive NW. Doodie Lo, a member of the Chicago-based hip hop group Only the Family (OTF), reportedly sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. However, authorities have not confirmed these claims, and Hindustan Times has not been able to independently verify the reports. In a separate report, Fox 5 Atlanta stated that a man was hospitalized after being shot in the leg in northwest Atlanta on Tuesday night. Police responded to the same address—2423 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive NW—at 9:25 p.m. and found the victim with an apparent gunshot wound to his left leg. He was transported to a hospital and was alert, conscious, and breathing at the time. The report did not identify the victim but described him as a 33-year-old man. This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
New indictment adds stalking count against Chicago rapper Lil Durk, drops allegation linking lyrics to slaying
A federal grand jury in California has returned a new indictment against Chicago rapper Lil Durk that removes allegations that his lyrics referenced the August 2022 murder of a rival in Los Angeles but adds a new stalking count. The second superseding indictment comes as lawyers for Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Davontay Banks, are attempting again to win his release on bond pending trial based on part on what they say were demonstrably false accusations about his lyrics, which were released months before the slaying of rapper Quando Rondo at the heart of the case. The new indictment was returned Thursday, according to a prosecution filing in the case, but had yet to be posted on the online docket as of Friday afternoon. In addition to removing the language about the rap lyrics, prosecutors said in the filing, the latest indictment charges Durk and his four co-defendants with stalking resulting in death — which can carry up to life in prison under certain circumstances. Banks, who remains in custody at the federal lockup in Los Angeles, is expected to be arraigned on the new indictment on Thursday, when his attorneys are also planning to argue again for his pretrial release. 'Defendant Banks has presented a false narrative that he is being prosecuted and detained because of his violent lyrics,' prosecutors wrote in a filing Friday explaining the latest indictment and why he should be considered a danger to the community and flight risk. 'This claim is, and has always been, baseless…He should remain detained pending trial.' Banks' lawyer, Jonathan Brayman, told the Tribune in a statement Friday the government's decision to remove the reference to his client's lyrics from the indictment 'represents a significant vindication of our position on this critical issue.' 'Our team is currently reviewing the new indictment and will respond accordingly in the ongoing fight to secure Mr. Banks' release and ultimate exoneration,' Brayman said. Banks, 32, was charged in October with paying five associates of his South Side rap consortium, Only the Family, to kill Quando Rondo — born Tyquian Terrel Bowman — in retaliation for the November 2020 shooting death of King Von, another Chicago drill rap artist and Banks' close friend. Prosecutors allege Banks also offered 'lucrative music opportunities' to those who were accused of taking part in the shooting. He pleaded not guilty in November. 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 federal charges. Bowman and his sister were not injured, but Robinson was struck multiple times and killed. Banks was arrested near a Florida airport in late October hours after the indictment against his co-defendants was unsealed. Prosecutors allege Banks had purchased seats on three different international flights shortly before his arrest. In advance of Banks' first detention hearing in December, prosecutors unsealed court records linking the embattled rapper to another alleged murder-for-hire plot involving the Jan. 27, 2022, killing of Stephon Mack, 24, who was shot to death shortly after he exited the Youth Peace Center of Roseland on West 111th Street. At the time of his death, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit, Mack was the leader of the Smashville faction of the Gangster Disciples. Banks' brother, Dontay Banks, was shot to death outside a nightclub in south suburban Harvey in 2021. According to the warrant application, another Gangster Disciples faction with ties to Smashville carried out the murder. '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 April 2023. Banks has not been charged in connection with Mack's death. jmeisner@
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
New indictment adds stalking count against Chicago rapper Lil Durk, drops allegation linking lyrics to slaying
A federal grand jury in California has returned a new indictment against Chicago rapper Lil Durk that removes allegations that his lyrics referenced the August 2022 murder of a rival in Los Angeles but adds a new stalking count. The second superseding indictment comes as lawyers for Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Davontay Banks, are attempting again to win his release on bond pending trial based on part on what they say were demonstrably false accusations about his lyrics, which were released months before the slaying of rapper Quando Rondo at the heart of the case. The new indictment was returned Thursday, according to a prosecution filing in the case, but had yet to be posted on the online docket as of Friday afternoon. In addition to removing the language about the rap lyrics, prosecutors said in the filing, the latest indictment charges Durk and his four co-defendants with stalking resulting in death — which can carry up to life in prison under certain circumstances. Banks, who remains in custody at the federal lockup in Los Angeles, is expected to be arraigned on the new indictment on Thursday, when his attorneys are also planning to argue again for his pretrial release. 'Defendant Banks has presented a false narrative that he is being prosecuted and detained because of his violent lyrics,' prosecutors wrote in a filing Friday explaining the latest indictment and why he should be considered a danger to the community and flight risk. 'This claim is, and has always been, baseless…He should remain detained pending trial.' Banks' lawyer, Jonathan Brayman, told the Tribune in a statement Friday the government's decision to remove the reference to his client's lyrics from the indictment 'represents a significant vindication of our position on this critical issue.' 'Our team is currently reviewing the new indictment and will respond accordingly in the ongoing fight to secure Mr. Banks' release and ultimate exoneration,' Brayman said. Banks, 32, was charged in October with paying five associates of his South Side rap consortium, Only the Family, to kill Quando Rondo — born Tyquian Terrel Bowman — in retaliation for the November 2020 shooting death of King Von, another Chicago drill rap artist and Banks' close friend. Prosecutors allege Banks also offered 'lucrative music opportunities' to those who were accused of taking part in the shooting. He pleaded not guilty in November. 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 federal charges. Bowman and his sister were not injured, but Robinson was struck multiple times and killed. Banks was arrested near a Florida airport in late October hours after the indictment against his co-defendants was unsealed. Prosecutors allege Banks had purchased seats on three different international flights shortly before his arrest. In advance of Banks' first detention hearing in December, prosecutors unsealed court records linking the embattled rapper to another alleged murder-for-hire plot involving the Jan. 27, 2022, killing of Stephon Mack, 24, who was shot to death shortly after he exited the Youth Peace Center of Roseland on West 111th Street. At the time of his death, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit, Mack was the leader of the Smashville faction of the Gangster Disciples. Banks' brother, Dontay Banks, was shot to death outside a nightclub in south suburban Harvey in 2021. According to the warrant application, another Gangster Disciples faction with ties to Smashville carried out the murder. '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 April 2023. Banks has not been charged in connection with Mack's death.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lil Durk's Family Says False Evidence Fueled Murder Indictment
Lil Durk's family is fighting back against his indictment in the murder-for-hire case and recently released a statement accusing the government of presenting false evidence against him. The rapper is currently in prison after being accused of murder-for-hire. Prosecutors accused the rapper of placing a bounty on Quando Rondo, with whom he feuded. However, Lil Durk's lawyers are doing their best to get the murder-for-hire charge against him dismissed or at least get him out of jail on bail. On Tuesday, the "All My Life" crooner's family released a statement accusing the government of presenting "false evidence" against him. "The recent developments in Durk's legal case have brought a harsh truth to light," the statement began. "The government presented false evidence to a grand jury to indict him." The statement continued, "That isn't justice. That's a violation of the very system that's supposed to protect all of us." The family continued, "Durk has always used music to tell stories, to express pain, to heal — and yet those same lyrics are now being used against him." They added, "We refuse to stay silent as Black artists continue to be criminalized for their creativity. Rap is art." The family pleaded with people to support them in their quest. They said, "As a family, we are asking the public, the fans, and the culture to stand with us. Stand for truth. Stand for fairness. Stand for The Voice." The "Viral Moment" rapper's family's statement came after his attorneys' latest attempts to get him out of jail or have his murder-for-hire charges thrown out, citing what they say is a flawed and misleading federal case built on unauthorized fan content. According to multiple legal motions filed on Friday, April 18, federal prosecutors presented a version of the track "Wonderful Wayne and Jackie Boy," featuring Durk and Babyface Ray, as proof the Chicago rapper tried to profit off the killing of Saviay'a Robinson, a relative of Quando Rondo, with whom Durk was allegedly in conflict. Lil Durk, real name Durk Banks, has previously stated that the lyrics in question were written months before Robinson's death, making it impossible for them to be about that incident. In the April 18 court filing, his legal team argued that the video prosecutors referenced isn't affiliated with him at all. During a hearing in January, prosecutors claimed a video existed that matched Durk's lyrics with disturbing footage of Robinson's murder. "The bottom line is there was a video that was filmed showing defendant's rival screaming, 'No. No,' that was placed over these lyrics," the government said. However, on April 18, Lil Durk's lawyers countered that the video wasn't made or shared by him. Instead, they explained that it originated from unaffiliated online fan accounts. The rapper's attorneys wrote in the filing per Complex, "The internet users who posted the apparent 'fan pages' maintained by people with no affiliation to Mr. Banks or Only the Family, Inc." They added, "It is unfair, misleading, and just flat-out wrong for the government to suggest that Mr. Banks is responsible for these video/audio edits or that they evidence his purported commercialization of a murder that he supposedly ordered." The videos in question were reportedly posted by YouTube accounts @otf_edit and @mymixtapez. In light of what they called mishandled and misattributed evidence, Lil Durk's legal team requested either his release to home confinement under a bond package valued at over $2 million or for the charges against him to be dropped entirely. In a new twist, federal prosecutors introduced new evidence in their case against Lil Durk: an unreleased track titled "Scoom His A--." According to court documents filed on April 28 and obtained by Complex, the song, seized from a co-defendant's phone, contains lyrics the government says "corroborate defendant's danger." The lyrics reportedly reference 'riding through Beverly Hills with choppers' and describe Durk as a 'bounty hunter,' which prosecutors argue mirrors the method used in Saviay'a Robinson's killing. While "Scoom His A--" has not been officially released, the government insists it is authentic, stating, "The lyrics are authentic as the government seized the audio file from a co-conspirator's cellular phone pursuant to a federal search warrant." Prosecutors maintain that Lil Durk's latest bond request fails to demonstrate that he poses no flight risk or potential danger. A ruling on the motion has not yet been issued. In October 2024, Lil Durk was arrested while trying to flee to Italy after being indicted in a murder-for-hire case tied to the 2022 killing of Saviay'a Robinson. Prosecutors allege that during an attempted hit on Rondo, Saviay'a Robinson, who was in the vehicle with Rondo, was killed instead. They also claimed that he used his OTF label to reward participants and avoid detection. The feud reportedly traces back to the fatal shooting of King Von, a close associate of Durk's, which prosecutors say was carried out by someone linked to Rondo. Durk is also facing multiple wrongful death lawsuits, including one from FBG Duck's mother, and is linked to two other murders, intensifying his ongoing legal troubles.
