In a disturbing series of events spanning Chicago, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, several men have been arrested in connection with multiple murder-for-hire plots, including the shooting death of Julian Bynum, a Chicago native, in December 2022. Bynum, who had moved to Las Vegas, found himself in a bitter dispute with his roommate, Nasir Warfield, a fellow Chicago native and aspiring rapper known as Nizzy. The two had accused each other of theft, with Warfield alleging that Bynum had stolen $90,000 from him. In retaliation, Warfield allegedly placed a bounty of $20,000–30,000 on Bynum’s life, hiring hitmen to carry out the killing.
On the night of December 16, 2022, Bynum was staying at a townhouse in North Hollywood when he was fatally shot by a gunman, identified as a hitman known as “Draco” from Chicago. Surveillance footage revealed that Draco, who had been lying in wait behind a parked car, ambushed Bynum as he walked down the street. The shooter stood over Bynum’s body and shot him multiple times in the head. Investigators later linked Draco and another hitman, Chevy, to Warfield, who allegedly orchestrated the killing.
The investigation into Bynum’s murder took a turn when police uncovered a second mass shooting linked to the same network of hitmen. On January 28, 2023, three women—Iyana Hutton, Nenah Davis, and Destiny Sims—were shot and killed in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, following a night out. Surveillance footage and phone records connected the shooters, identified as Daries Stanford, Dejean Thompkins, and Dontae Williams, to both the Benedict Canyon massacre and Bynum’s murder. They had traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles and Las Vegas before returning to Chicago shortly after the killings. Investigators also found phone records linking Thompkins to Bynum’s death.
In a related case, Chicago rapper Lil Durk (born Durk Banks) was implicated in a separate murder-for-hire plot that targeted rival Georgia rapper Tyquian “Quando Rondo” Bowman in 2022. After Bowman’s associate killed Durk’s close friend, rapper King Von, in 2020, Durk allegedly put a bounty on Bowman’s head. The hit was carried out in Los Angeles in August 2022, when three men shot and killed Bowman’s cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, outside a gas station near the Beverly Center. The FBI connected Durk to the plot, linking him to the shooters and a coordinated plan to assassinate Bowman. Durk, who had fled to Miami, was arrested in October 2024 after attempting to leave the country.
These interconnected murders illustrate the violent and often reckless nature of gang and rap-related rivalries, with hitmen flying on budget airlines, staying in cramped hotels, and leaving behind evidence such as DNA and phone records. While Warfield has not been charged in the Benedict Canyon killings, authorities have seized evidence from his Las Vegas home that links him to the murders. As of now, several suspects, including Stanford, Thompkins, and Williams, are awaiting trial for the Benedict Canyon deaths, while Lil Durk faces federal charges related to the murder-for-hire plot against Bowman.