King Von

King Von (2018)

Dayvon Daquan Bennett (August 9, 1994 - November 6, 2020) professionally known as **King Von** was a drill artist from Chicago, Illinois. King Von would start started in 2018 and joined Lil Durk's Only The Family rap group after getting released from jail in 2017 for the 2014 murder of Malcolm Stuckey.

## Early Life

Dayvon Daquan Bennett was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 9, 1994. His father Walter E. Bennett, was shot and killed by a sniper on July 31, 2005, just when Von was 11. His father was also a gang member from Ada Park, a faction of the Black Disciples.

### **Early Gang Life**

Around 2006-08, King Von would become a member of KillaWard 078, a faction of Gangster Disciples, but King Von would decide to become a Black Disciples member due to his father being one.

In 2010, King Von would move to the Parkway Gardens Homes, controlled by WIIIC City/O'Block, a faction of the Black Disciples where he later became a member, but still remained close to KillaWard 078 members.

## First Arrest (January 2011 - March 2012)

On January 6, 2011, King Von was arrested for the first time at the age of 16 and was charged with armed robbery, he allegedly robbed someone at gun point and stole their car. Von spent the entire year locked up for this charge until he was later released in March 2012.

## Murder Of Modell McCambry (2012)

On October 13, 2012, King Von was involved in the murder of Modell McCambry, a gang member from STL/EBT (faction of Gangster Disciples). Modell and his cousin Miles Turner were on their way to meet a girl when someone walked up and opened fire in the 6300 block of South Rhodes Avenue just before 9:30 p.m. Modell later died where Miles was shot 5 times and was left paralyzed. Just a few minutes after the murder, King Von would tweet out "Mann I am Bored Wats Da Plan" following up with "Who died!!!" an hour later. Modell's murder was gang-related since STL/EBT and King Von's hood "WIIIC City/O'Block" were huge rivals to each other.

In June 2022, Chicago Police name King Von as the suspect in the shooting death of Modell McCambry, who was killed in October 2012.

## Incarcerated (November 2012 - February 2014)

### **Arrested For Shooting (2012)**

On November 20, 2012, at 12:04 p.m, King Von would shoot at Gangster Disciples on the 6300 block of South Calumet Avenue where he was later arrested for "Unlawful Use of Weapon by a Felon" after being chased by police. Two hours before the incident, King Von would tweet out "I jus walked Threw Mob... I mean da whole mob and aint jus see not nobodii #DaSTruggle" with "MOB" being a faction of Gangster Disciples, also big rivals to O'Block.

### **Release (2014)**

On February 11, 2014, King Von was finally released after spending 1 year and 3 months locked up, he was placed on house arrest until he was let out in March 2014.

## Murder Of Gakirah "KI" Barnes (2014)

On April 11, 2014, King Von was involved in another murder where Gakirah Barnes aka **KI**, a female gang member from STL/EBT was ready to celebrate the birthday of Rodney "Boss Trell" Stewart, a dead gang member from STL/EBT killed in 2012. At around 3:30 p.m, KI, FBG Butta (STL/EBT member), and Cray Cray (STL/EBT member) were sitting at a porch in the 6451 block of South Eberhart Avenue when the shooter would exit a Blue Oldsmobile Vehicle allegedly driven by Big A (O'Block member) facing East Bound at the corner of 65th and Eberhart Ave, where he started walking North Bound on Eberhard Avenue. The shooter then walked into an alleyway when reaching the end, he sees KI, FBG Butta, and Cray Cray getting ready to play dice where the shooter immediately opens fire on all three where Cray Cray was hit in his right foot and played dead, FBG Butta was hit in the back of his knee trying to run away, with KI also trying to run until the shooter shot her 4 times in her body where she fell, and then shot her twice and the jaw, and once in her buttocks, where she later died trying to crawl to some nearby steps. The shooter would then run South Bound and enters the vehicle which fled East Bound on 65th St.

### **Arrest/Release**

On April 29, 2014, King Von was arrested and was charged with First Degree Murder and 2 counts of Aggravated Assault/Discharge Firearm, but was released the next day due to inconsistencies in the witness statements.

## Murder Of Malcolm Stuckey (2014)

On May 29, 2014, at around 10:00 a.m, Boss Ceejay, a drill artist and a gang member from KillaWard 078 was hosting a birthday party on the 5722 block of South LaSalle Street, where later that afternoon, King Von arrives since he was super close to Boss Ceejay and KillaWard 078. At the party, King Von would notice Timothy Robinson, a Gangster Disciple, and Marquis Carpenter, a gang member from Jaro City (faction of Gangster Disciples), which were rivals to O'Block. Both King Von and Marquis were repeatedly looking at each other with Marquis having a pistol in his pocket for protection. About 15 minutes later, King Von went to get his gun from his car where he placed it in his front waistband and covered it with his shirt. Von returned back to the house and told Boss Ceejay why was he hanging with his opps (rivals) which Von left 15 minutes later. Shortly after Von left the party Malcolm Stuckey arrived at the party to meet with Marquis, who was going to help Malcolm sell his car.

King Von then calls up Big Mike (O'Block member) as a backup to confront Marquis and tells him what happened at the party with people giving him bad looks. 20 minutes later, both King Von and Big Mike arrive at the party with guns, where Von called Boss Ceejay and told him if Marquis and Timothy were still out. Boss Ceejay would reply with yes but told Von not to come since Marquis was armed, Von told him it was okay since he had two guns, Von then told him to "bring the kids inside" before ending the call.

Both King Von and Big Mike exit the vehicle where they later see Timothy, who later started running away, with King Von chasing him while shooting at him, while King Von was chasing Timothy he then saw Malcolm where Von shot him in the ear which tor into his brain and killed him instantly, Von then shot him twice in the buttocks while Malcolm was already dead and then sees Marquis beginning to run. Von would chase Marquis while yelling out "Why you running" where Von managed to shoot Marquis in his left leg. Big Mike then starts to chase Timothy and fires 15-16 shots but only hits him in the foot. Big Mike later ran out of ammo and ran back where he still heard Von firing bullets. Shortly, both King Von and Big Mike reunite, and Von runs two houses over and sees Marquis in a vacant lot about 20 feet away and shoots twice, hitting Marquis in the mouth, where he then fell to the ground. Marquis had to stay in the hospital for a month and had his jaw wired shot due to it being broken from the bullet.

## Incarcerated (July 2014 - December 2017)

On July 20, 2014, just almost two months after the shooting, Big Mike was arrested with King Von being arrested two days later on July 22. In the end, Big Mike was sentenced to 28 years, and King Von was acquitted of all charges and was released on December 6, 2017.

## Rap Career (2018)

After being released from prison in December 2017, King Von would sign to his close friend Lil Durk's label, Only The Family (OTF). In August 2018, King Von would release his first music video titled "Problems" on Lil Durk's YouTube channel. Two months later in October 2018, King Von and THF Zoo, both OTF artists and two friends would release a collaboration music video titled "Beat That Body" meaning beating a murder charge, both of the artists were freed after facing a murder charge where THF Zoo was arrested with the 2009 murder of "Dominic Barnes" in 2014 but was freed in 2018.

### **Crazy Story (Dec 2018)**

On December 11, 2018, King Von would release the music video for "Crazy Story" which became his breakout hit, with the video having 78 million views as of December 2022. On May 3, 2019, King Von would drop a remix to Crazy Story featuring Lil Durk titled "Crazy Story 2.0" with the music video being released on May 21. Then again on September 13, 2019, King Von would drop another sequel to Crazy Story titled "Crazy Story Pt. 3".

### **Grandson Vol. 1 (Sept 2019)**

On September 21, 2019, King Von would drop his debut mixtape titled "Grandson Vol. 1" which featured his hit songs such as "War With Us", "What It's Like", "No Flaws", and all three parts of Crazy Story. The project peaked at number 53 on the Billboard 200.

### **Levon James (Mar 2020)**

On March 6, 2020, King Von would release his second mixtape titled "Levon James" which featured his most popular song "Took Her To The O" which currently has 175 million views as of December 2022. This mixtape would feature other artists such as Lil Durk, G Herbo, NLE Choppa, YNW Melly, Tee Grizzley, and Booka 600. Levon James would peak at number 40 on the Billboard 200.

### **Welcome To O'Block (Oct 2020)**

On October 30, 2020, King Von would drop his debut studio album titled "Welcome To O'Block" dropping on the birthday of James "T. Roy" Johnson, one of King Von's closest friends from O'Block who passed away in February 2017. This album featured other artists such as Polo G, Moneybagg Yo, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign, and Prince Dre. Welcome To O'Block peaked at number 5 on the Billboard 200.

### **What It Means To Be King (Mar 2022)**

On March 4, 2022, King Von's management team released his first posthumous album titled "What It Means To Be King" which featured other artists such as 21 Savage, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Moneybagg Yo, Fivio Foreign, and more. This album peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200.

## Death (2020)

### **Background**

On November 5, 2020, at 10:00 p.m, King Von was hosting an album release party for "Welcome To O'Block" at Atlanta's Opium Lounge. After the party ended at around 2:00 a.m, Von and his team were supposed to head back to his hotel. But after Von hopped in his security bulletproof truck with two other people and a driver he randomly decided to go to an afterparty club named "Monaco Hookah Lounge". After Von's team arrived at the hotel, they realized Von and others were not there, so Von's DJ called them to know where they were and then found out Von was at an afterparty club. After Von's team arrived, they found out Von was staying in his truck for around 30 minutes until one of Von's friends told him that Quando Rondo was there. Von then immediately got up and then later found Quando Rondo, and started fighting him.

### **Shooting**

At around 3:23 a.m, while fighting Quando Rondo, a white vehicle pulled up with Lul Tim (Quando's friend) hopping out and then firing 5-6 shots at King Von, where he was hit in the torso and thigh, with even one of the bullets hitting King Von's manager. King Von's friend and an O'Block member named "Slutty" then shot Lul Tim in the leg and even tried standing over him, but his gun jammed. Seconds later, the police who were guarding that area decided to get involved and then started shooting randomly where Slutty was later shot and killed by the police. After the shooting ended, King Von's team immediately picked Von up and put him in the truck, which later fled to the hospital. Lul Tim's crew also picked him up and put him in the vehicle which also sped off too. The entire shooting was captured on a security camera.

### **Aftermath**

After the shooting King Von was rushed to the hospital where he was listed in critical condition but was pronounced dead at around 11:00 a.m. The shooting left 6 people shot in total with 2 dying. The next day on November 7, 22-year-old Timothy Leeks aka Lul Tim, was charged with the murder of King Von, but was bailed out on March 27, 2021.