The ongoing saga of street violence intersecting with the highest echelons of the music industry has reached a terrifying new peak.

What began as a tragic Atlanta nightclub brawl in 2020 has now culminated in federal “murder-for-hire” indictments against one of Chicago drill music’s biggest stars, Lil Durk, and members of his Only The Family (OTF) collective.

The heart-stopping, cold-blooded ambush in Los Angeles that claimed the life of 24-year-old Savier “Lul Pab” Robinson was not, according to federal prosecutors, a spontaneous act of violence but a meticulously planned assassination attempt allegedly financed by a major music empire.

The details emerging from the federal case paint a chilling picture of revenge, loyalty, and the astronomical cost of a rap feud that crossed the line from lyrical disses to a calculated, military-style execution plot.

The Fatal Ambush: A Friday Evening Turned Warzone

The date that forever altered the lives of two prominent rap camps was August 19, 2022. On a regular Friday evening in the upscale Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles, near the bustling Beverly Center, Quando Rondo and his cousin, Lul Pab, pulled up to a gas station near La Cienaga and Beverly boulevards.

What unfolded next was a scene of chaos and devastation. Federal authorities would later describe the incident as a “cold-blooded murder for hire attack.”

According to court documents, the real target was not Pab, but his cousin, Quando Rondo (Taikon Terrell Bowman).

The assailants, allegedly members of the OTF collective, had been meticulously stalking Rondo’s black Cadillac Escalade for hours, following him from a hotel to a dispensary and a clothing store, “waiting for the perfect moment to strike.”

This was not random; it was, as described by the prosecution, “premeditated, organized, military-style execution planning.”

When Rondo and Pab stopped to pump gas, the moment arrived. At least three assailants emerged from a white sedan, unleashing a barrage of gunfire.

Authorities confirmed at least 18 rounds were fired, including shots from what was identified as a machine gun. In that hail of bullets, Lul Pab was struck multiple times, paying “the ultimate price, becoming collateral damage in a beef that he didn’t even start.”

Viral footage from the scene captured the absolute devastation on Rondo’s face as he pulled his cousin from the vehicle, “visibly distraught, traumatized, watching his blood, his family member, his day one bleeding out right there in front of him.”

Pab was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his catastrophic injuries, pronounced dead at 24. The suspects vanished into the Los Angeles streets, leaving behind a profound and painful mystery that took over two years for federal investigators to unravel.

The King Von Connection: Two Years of Unresolved Retaliation

To understand why a young man like Lul Pab was caught in such brutal crossfire, one must rewind the clock two years prior to a violent confrontation in Atlanta, Georgia.

The seeds of this deadly feud were planted on November 6, 2020, outside the Monaco Hookah Lounge, where King Von (Devon Bennett), Lil Durk’s protege and a foundational member of the OTF collective, was killed.

Von’s confrontation with Quando Rondo’s crew escalated from a fist fight to a fatal shooting when Timothy “Lul Tim” Leeks, an associate of Rondo, fired the shots that killed him.

Leeks later claimed self-defense, and charges against him were eventually dropped. However, in the world of street-connected rap, where “loyalty runs deeper than blood,” Von’s death was deemed unforgivable.

Federal authorities now allege that in the aftermath of King Von’s murder, Lil Durk, driven by the code of the street, “placed a bounty on Quando Rondo’s life in retaliation.”

This transformed the feud from diss tracks and social media barbs—which had been playing out for years between the two camps—into a chilling “contract on their life, something straight out of a mob movie.”

The tension escalated endlessly, pushed to its breaking point until, in August 2022, five alleged members of the OTF collective flew from Chicago to California “with one mission: to collect on that bounty.”

The Federal Conspiracy: OTF as a Criminal Enterprise

The investigation into Pab’s death remained cold until October 24, 2024, when the US Attorney’s Office announced federal charges against five OTF associates: Kavon London Grant (Cuz/Vonnie), DeAndre Dantrell Wilson (DD), David Brian Lindseay (Brownie EZ), Keith Jones (Flacka), and Asa Houston (Boogie).

The charges were staggering: conspiracy to commit murder for hire resulting in death and use of a machine gun in a violent crime.

The indictment laid out a meticulous plan:

Financial Paper Trail: The five individuals boarded one-way flights from Chicago to California on August 18, 2022. Prosecutors allege that the flights and the hotel room were paid for using a credit card linked to OTF and Lil Durk himself.

Consciousness of Guilt: Text messages allegedly show Durk instructing associates to cover their tracks, warning them: “Don’t book no flights under no names involved with me.”

The Murder Kit: Durk himself reportedly flew out separately on a private jet with one of the co-defendants, Kavon Grant, who allegedly used Durk’s credit card to purchase the ski masks worn during the attack.

Incentivizing Murder: The prosecution argues that OTF was not just a record label but a “criminal enterprise” that allegedly promised “lucrative music opportunities” to whoever successfully carried out the hit on Quando Rondo.

The investigation culminated in the dramatic arrest of Lil Durk (Durk Devonte Banks) on October 25, 2024, near Miami International Airport, allegedly while attempting to flee the country.

He was charged with conspiracy to commit murder for hire and conspiracy to use interstate facilities for murder for hire resulting in death. If convicted, Durk, despite his platinum-selling status, faces a life sentence without parole.

The Victim: A Hustler and Entrepreneur Days From a Clean Slate

Amidst the high-profile drama of celebrity indictments and rap feuds, the real tragedy lies with Savier “Lul Pab” Robinson. Too often, victims in such stories are reduced to statistics or gang affiliations, but Pab’s story reveals a complex young man striving for a better life.

Born in Savannah, Georgia, around 1998, Pab grew up deeply connected to the street scene but possessed an undeniable “entrepreneurial spirit.”

Despite facing significant legal pressure, including a serious 2019 RICO indictment, he demonstrated remarkable business acumen while out on bond.

He founded not one but two legitimate companies: ANS Express Carriers, a trucking company requiring significant capital and logistics knowledge, and Supreme Exotic Frenchies, a kennel specializing in breeding French bulldogs.

These ventures highlight a young man who was a “hustler in the truest, most positive sense of that word,” actively building a future away from the streets.

The most heart-wrenching detail of his death is the timing. Pab was scheduled for a trial docket call on August 26, 2022, just one week after he was killed.

He died days before he could resolve a chapter of his life that began in his late teens. All charges against him were dismissed due to his death, leaving the devastating realization of what could have been: a clean slate, a legitimate business career, and a life spared.

“Pab died for a beef that wasn’t even his,” the narrative underscores. He had no personal issues with Lil Durk or OTF. His only “crime” was “being related to Quando Rondo, being loyal to his cousin, being in the wrong place at the wrong time when people came looking for revenge.”

The Reckoning: Criminalizing Hip-Hop or Demanding Accountability?

The legal battle following the indictments has sparked a massive debate over the prosecution’s tactics.

Durk’s defense team is aggressively fighting the charges, filing a motion to dismiss and arguing that the prosecution is fundamentally misinterpreting evidence and relying too heavily on artistic expression.

The use of rap lyrics and interviews—where Durk allegedly made statements about putting hits on people—as evidence of a criminal conspiracy has been slammed as setting a “dangerous precedent for criminalizing hip hop itself.”

However, the federal government is treating this with the utmost seriousness. Durk has been denied bail multiple times, despite offers of substantial financial guarantees up to $5 million.

Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald cited both “flight risk” and “danger to the community,” noting that with a potential mandatory life sentence, Durk has “every incentive to flee if released on bail.”

Furthermore, the FBI has reported that fans of Lil Durk have been making threatening phone calls to the judge and prosecutors, leading the court to consider the extreme measure of an anonymous jury to protect those involved in the trial.

The criminal case is not the only legal front. In February 2025, Lul Pab’s mother, Andrea Robinson, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Cook County against Lil Durk, his business manager, OTF, and related entities. This civil case seeks accountability and monetary damages, running parallel to the federal proceedings.

The case of Lil Durk and Lul Pab is more than just a hip-hop drama; it is a flash point for the ongoing, tragic pattern of violence that continues to claim young lives in the music community.

Since 2018, at least one prominent rapper has been killed by gun violence every year, with many victims being in their early to mid-20s, including King Von, Pop Smoke, Takeoff, and Lul Pab.

The outcome of this trial will have implications far beyond the lives of the individuals involved. A conviction would send shock waves, fundamentally altering how artists approach writing about the street life they know.

An acquittal would raise serious questions about whether the federal government overreached in attempting to label a music collective as an organized criminal enterprise.

For Lul Pab’s family, the legal proceedings offer little solace, as “no conviction, no prison sentence, no amount of money from a civil lawsuit can restore what was taken.”

Their fight is to ensure that Savier Robinson’s death is not just another statistic—that the ambitious young entrepreneur caught in the crossfire of a deeply rooted street war finds a measure of justice and that his memory is kept alive.

The cost of this feud, measured in lives lost, potential extinguished, and freedom revoked, is a brutal reckoning for the entire hip-hop industry.