OTF Jam testifies against Lil Durk in murder-for-hire trial

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Kacey Hester testified Thursday the 2022 shooting of Quando Rondo left a bad taste in his mouth.“I wasn’t feeling good about it at all,” Hester said on the stand on the fourth day of trial against his former friend and associate Lil Durk. “I felt it was sloppy.”Hester, also known as OTF Jam, was one of three masked gunmen who fired some 18 bullets at a car Rondo, a rapper whose real name is Tyquian Bowman, was sitting in. The shooters missed Bowman but killed his cousin, 24-year-old Saviay’a Robinson, also known as Lil Pab.Prosecutors accuse Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk, real name Durk Banks, of hiring the men to kill Bowman in retaliation for the killing of his friend.Hester, now a cooperating witness, has plead guilty to Robinson’s murder, as has another of the masked shooters, Keith Jones. The third man, Kavon Grant, worked as an assistant and right hand man for Banks. Jones and Grant are expected to testify later in the trial.“He was innocent. I didn’t have no beef with him,” Hester said of Robinson.Nor did he feel like he had any beef with Bowman.“That’s some rap stuff. I’m not on that level,” Hester said.Prosecutors say Banks vowed revenge for the murder of his friend King Von, legal name Dayvon Bennett, especially after Bowman celebrated the killing in a rap song, stoking an already simmering gang war.Banks is charged with murder-for-hire, along with two co-defendants: David Lindsey and Deondre Wilson. Banks claims he had nothing to do with the 2022 shooting, attributing the planning to Grant, Bennett’s cousin.Hester said he was a leader in the Black Disciples, a criminal street gang based in the South Side of Chicago. Both he and Banks were affiliated with a clique of the gang, Lamron 300 — the number an allusion to the comic book and film 300, about the Spartan army. Bowman and Robinson were members of a rival gang.Hester testified that he went along with the plan to shoot Bowman reluctantly. He recalled having second thoughts as the group sat parked near Catholic church while following Bowman.“I’m just like, this shit don’t feel right,” he said. “This shit — there’s just no real plan … Something could go wrong, like police interference.”Eventually, Hester and his crew followed Bowman’s car to a gas station in West Hollywood. As Bowman’s driver filled up the black Escalade, Hester, Lindsey and Jones drove down a nearby alleyway.Lindsey jumped out of the car first, Hester testified, and was the first to open fire — from a good distance away from the Escalade. Hester was caught off guard.“I’m used to walking up on people,” Hester said. “That’s what I thought.”The wild shooting lasted mere seconds. They ran back to a waiting car and sped away. Hester said he told the driver to slow down. The shooters ditched the car, which was stolen, and got into a vehicle that also contained Grant and Wilson, who was talking on the phone with Banks.Banks, according to Hester, wanted to know how the ambush went.“Did somebody get hit? How many times did you shoot? What did you do?” Hester recalled the rapper asking.Hester had testified on Wednesday that, at a meeting in a studio in Atlanta, Banks had promised a big cash reward for the killing of Bowman — either half a million or a million dollars. Hester said he was never paid, although he was allowed to record a track with Banks, for which he was paid $10,000.Perhaps the most curious thing about Hester’s story was his decision to testify against his old friend — a risky and controversial act, to say the least, in street gang culture.Hester says the confession came after a 2023 arrest on a gun charge that violated his parole. Hester handed a note to the arresting officers, reading: “I know about murders. I don’t wanna talk on camera. I know a lot.”“I had to get it off my chest. It was weighing on me,” Hester said on the stand.When asked about his relationship with Banks, Hester said, “This might be hard to be believe. I still do have a lot of love for him. What he did for me, you can’t forget that. I still got love for him, I just got no respect for him. He probably hate me now.”During cross-examination, Banks’ attorney, Brian Steel, excoriated Hester as a coward, a violent criminal who had murdered and robbed at will.Steel tried to get Hester to admit that he was testifying in exchange for a reduced sentence.“Nothing was ever promised to me,” Hester insisted. “I could still [get] life.”Hester will retake the stand on Friday.Dozens of Banks’ supporters, including other celebrities, have shown up to court — including a surprise cameo from Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. He came to court Thursday dressed in black leather pants and watched testimony for a couple of hours.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads