OTF Vonnie told jurors he participated in a 2021 attempt to target Quando Rondo in Georgia, placing himself inside an attack that happened more than a year before the deadly Los Angeles shooting now at the center of Lil Durk’s federal trial.
Kavon “OTF Vonnie” Grant testified Tuesday that the group learned Quando Rondo would be performing in Waycross, Georgia, in May 2021. Grant said a black truck transported him and several other people to the area and identified Marcus “Muwop” Smart as one of the men who went with him. Grant also testified that another person traveled separately in a Dodge Charger.
Live accounts of Grant’s testimony said he described himself as participating in the attempt on Rondo and identified Muwop as one of the people involved. Grant reportedly said he did not remember the names of some of the other people who accompanied them. Those details are especially important because Durk’s defense has previously argued that Grant himself was behind efforts to target Rondo, while prosecutors are attempting to establish that Grant was acting under Durk’s direction.
The shooting Grant discussed matches a documented attack from that weekend. According to Action News Jax, Quando Rondo performed at The Vibe Event Center in Waycross on Saturday, May 1, 2021. At approximately 3:20 a.m. on May 2, Rondo and members of his entourage were shot at in nearby Blackshear, Georgia. Rondo was not reported injured, but one man with his group was shot in the hand and treated at a hospital. Police believed the shots came from across the street or highway.
Grant’s admission gives prosecutors a direct witness connecting the current case to an alleged attempt on Rondo that predates the August 2022 Los Angeles shooting by more than a year. It also creates a complicated credibility issue because Grant is not simply accusing other people of crimes. He is admitting that he was deeply involved himself.
The government drove that point even further when Grant testified about the 2022 attack.
According to Los Angeles Magazine, prosecutors asked Grant whether he participated in the August 19, 2022 shooting that killed Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson, Quando Rondo’s cousin. Grant said he did.
When Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello asked Grant why the group tried to kill Quando Rondo, Grant answered, “Durk told us to.”
That four word accusation is among the most direct statements jurors have heard against Durk during the trial.
Grant also described just how close he had become to Durk before the shooting. According to Los Angeles Magazine, Grant said he spent “90 percent of the time” with Durk and was around him “almost every day.”
“I pretty much did whatever he asked me to do from 2018 on,” Grant testified.
Grant said his responsibilities included driving Durk, shopping for him, picking up food and handling travel arrangements. He testified that Durk officially placed him on payroll in early 2021.
Grant also admitted to extensive criminal activity involving stolen property. According to Los Angeles Magazine, he told jurors he obtained and sold stolen cars and firearms. Grant said some vehicles were acquired using fake or stolen identities, while others were purchased from thieves. He referred to stolen vehicles as “hot” cars and “slider” cars.
Those admissions could become critical for the defense.
Durk’s attorneys have argued that Grant, not Durk, orchestrated the attempts to kill Quando Rondo. The defense specifically pointed to Grant’s alleged involvement in the May 2021 Georgia attack while previewing its case against his credibility. The defense has also emphasized Grant’s role in obtaining vehicles, firearms and other materials connected to the alleged operations.
Prosecutors are presenting a different picture. Their argument is that Grant may have handled critical logistics, but Durk allegedly possessed the authority behind the operation. According to Courthouse News Service, prosecutors asked Grant whether OTF members would travel across the country and commit murder simply because he told them to.
“No,” Grant responded.
The federal government alleges the feud grew out of King Von’s November 2020 death following an altercation involving Quando Rondo’s group. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, prosecutors accuse Durk of placing a bounty on Rondo and later ordering the August 2022 attack in Los Angeles. Rondo survived that shooting, but Robinson was killed. Durk has pleaded not guilty, and the allegations against him remain unproven unless prosecutors establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Vonnie’s testimony now gives jurors two alleged attempts to examine, one in Georgia in 2021 and another in Los Angeles in 2022. But his own admitted participation creates the twist both sides must confront. Prosecutors need the jury to believe an insider who says he followed orders. Durk’s defense needs the jury to believe that same insider had enough criminal experience and authority to act on his own.
What Vonnie admitted doing may ultimately become just as important as what he says Lil Durk told him to do.
