Grammy-winning US rapper Lil Durk has been arrested for contract killing, reports CBS News, the BBC's US partner.
Police records seen by US media show that the star, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, was arrested in Broward County, Florida, on Thursday evening and is being held without bail.
The arrest came a day after five people with ties to Banks' hip-hop group Only The Family (OTF) were charged in Chicago in connection with a shooting that killed rival rapper Quando Rondo's cousin in 2022.
Lil Durk has had six albums in the top five of the US Billboard charts since 2019 and has also collaborated on hit singles with top stars such as Drake and J Cole.
Rap violence
The 33-year-old from Chicago has been nominated for a Grammy Award four times and won the award for Best Melodic Rap Performance in February for All My Life, featuring J Cole.
Lil Durk founded OTF in 2010 and the group is at the center of the city's drill rap scene.
The five men charged on Wednesday are said to have organized the 2022 Los Angeles shooting in direct retaliation for the 2020 death of up-and-coming rapper King Von, who was signed to OTF, US media reports.
A friend of Quando Rondo was charged with King Von's murder, but the charges were later dropped. Quando Rondo was neither arrested nor charged.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the new indictment against the five men alleges that an unnamed co-conspirator offered "money and lucrative music opportunities at OTF" to anyone who participated in Quando Rondo's murder.
In 2022, some of the defendants allegedly shot at a car in which Quando Rondo, his sister and cousin Saviay'a Robinson were traveling.
Quando Rondo and his sister were unharmed, but Robinson died.
Earlier this month, the mother of another Chicago rapper, FBG Duck, filed suit accusing Lil Durk, OTF and King Von of involvement in the 2020 shooting of him.
Two years ago, Lil Durk's attempted murder charges were dropped following a fatal shooting in Atlanta in 2019.
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