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The Dark Story of King Von & KI · Weird Darkness:True crime & The unexplained

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: On September 25th, 2012, King Vaughn, a member of O'Block,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: would encounter a rival Southside Chicago gang member by the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: name of K.I. on a local train ride. K.I. is
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: a member of STL which stands for St. Lawrence, a
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: street in which most STL gang members reside on. STL
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: and O'Block have had a strong hatred for each other
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: for years and the rivalry between the two gangs has
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: resulted in many casualties. When King Von and K.I. spotted
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: each other on the train, the two immediately began to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: get physical, with King Von landing several punches to K.I.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: 's face. After the incident, King Von logged onto Twitter
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: and tweeted about the altercation with K.I., claiming that an
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: opposing gang member got caught with their guard down on
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: the train. K.I. would then begin to tweet about the
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: situation herself by saying that her ear and arm are
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: messed up. KI followed that tweet by also saying that
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: she only has a bruise on her face and that
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: she's not tripping because her. 40 caliber firearm would put
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: a hole in King Von's face. This situation stemming from
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: the altercation on the train would soon become the start
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: of King Von and KI frequently communicating with each other
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: on social media. Just four days after the train incident,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: KI would tweet, Retweet if you think I look good,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: in which King Von would retweet shortly after. Three days later, K.I.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: would get into another altercation on the train, but this
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: time with Lil Skud, an O'Block member who was friends
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: with King Vaughn. K.I. was eager to let this be
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: known and quickly tweeted out that she beat up Lil
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Skud and to let King Vaughn know that she isn't
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: someone to be messed with. After 30 minutes of no replies, K.I.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: would tweet directly at King Vaughn explaining how she beat
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: up Lil Skud all by herself and that he didn't
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: even get one punch on her. King Vaughn would eventually
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: reply stating that KI is about that life and that
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: he may be in love with her. KI would respond
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: to this by calling King Vaughn gay. Vaughn clearly didn't
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: appreciate that and told KI not to do that and
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: ended the conversation by saying he would treat KI right.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn would soon begin to direct message KI on
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Twitter with his first DM being, What up? I'm trying
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: to change you and upgrade you. I want to nail something.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: What's up? K.I. would appear to be somewhat shocked by
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: these DMs, but King Vaughn would respond the next day,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: saying that it wasn't him who sent the first message,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and then goes on to say that he likes K.I.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: for real, and that when the gang war in Chicago
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: is over with, that he is going to be with her. K.I.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: would then go on to tell King Vaughn that she
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: heard a rumor in the streets that Oblock is trying
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: to kill her. King Vaughn would respond to those claims,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: stating that what she heard was true, but he doesn't
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: think he could do it because he thinks she's actually cool.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: The two then discuss when they are going to stop gangbanging,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: to which they both reveal they believe that they are
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: both going to die in the gang war. KI then
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: goes on to say that she thinks Oblok feels threatened
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: by her, to which King Von would respond with, Look,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: I'm not trying to mess with you, so why are
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: you trying to mess with me? We are just trying
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: to get whoever. It's not like we are in a
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: rush to get you, but I had a 9mm on
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: me when I saw you riding my bike and was
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: going to grab you but the police were right there.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: The girl with me also had a 7mm when we
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: saw you on the train. If we were really trying
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: to get you, I would have took my chances then.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: KI soon responds by shouting out STL and states that
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: she is ready to go to war with anybody. Vaughn
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: then tells her that she doesn't always have to act
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: tough to which KI says, Treat enemies like enemies. What
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: do you expect? The next morning, KI would start off
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: the day by dissing Odie Perry, a respected member of
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Wick City who was fatally shot just a few years prior.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn would see this tweet and respond with, See,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: that's why you keep getting beat up. KI then tells
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn to pull up, to which he responds with,
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: I should have pissed or spit on you after I
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: beat you up, but I wasn't thinking. KI proceeds to
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: laugh at this and tells King Vaughn to leave it
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: in the streets. Shortly after this Twitter interaction, King Vaughn
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: would go outside looking for KI and ended up running
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: into a group of rival gang members at the local
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: corner store. According to King Vaughn, the rival members were
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: scared of him and had the store employees lock the
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: door to keep him out. Vaughn would tweet about this
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: as soon as it happened, to which KI would respond
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: by saying she is on her way. King Vaughn would
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: quickly tell her not to come since he was already
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: leaving the store anyways. KI responds by calling Vaughn funny
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: and says she'll come to wherever he is at, which
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Vaughn responds by telling KI to be smart. Four days later,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn and K.I. would continue talking in the DMs
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: after K.I. would message Vaughn with, Where you at? Come outside.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Vaughn would quickly respond to K.I. with a simple, Don't
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: mess with me. To which K.I. would reply back, taking
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: a slight dig at Oblock and the work they're doing
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: in the streets. King Vaughn would then ask K.I. if
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: she wants to have a shootout with him, to which K.I.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: would shockingly respond with, Hell yeah, you and your friend T-Roy.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn didn't seem to take this very seriously and
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: responded back with, Hashtag very scary. K.I. then states that
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: she was just around Oblock and didn't see anybody outside.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Vaughn would soon reply saying that they're busy with other
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: things but that they will see them soon. K.I. would
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: then tell King Vaughn that she thinks they are scared
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: of them, to which King Vaughn replies with a simple,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: The conversation would then go dark for three days until
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn would randomly message K.I. saying, What's up? When
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: are you going to let your hair down and put
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: on a tight dress for me? I would risk my
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: life to get some of that. K.I. did not respond
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: to this message. After that message, the two didn't speak
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: to each other for about a week. But then on
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: October 24, 2012, K.I. would announce on Twitter that she
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: would be going to Swisher Sweets, a popular store located
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: in Oblox territory. King Von would reply to this tweet
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: moments later saying, Don't do that. Today is not the day.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: KI would then respond by saying that she never even
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: sees King Vaughn despite the fact that she's always outside.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Vaughn would then say, I saw you before, right or wrong?
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: KI would respond with, yeah, but ever since then I
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: feel like you've been hiding because I've been coming through
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: your territory ever since. King Vaughn replies with, I've been
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: going to Rhodes, but I think when you come over here,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I be over here. KI ends the conversation with a
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: simple LOL. Two days later, K.I. would suddenly post a
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: tweet stating that King Vaughn was a goofy who got
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: beat up by her friend FBG Butta just two years prior.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn would see this tweet and soon reply back saying,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn fires back by denying that he needs drilling
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: practice in which K.I. responds by saying, Vaughn is saying
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: too much for Twitter and that Vaughn's friend Sharoid, an
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Oblok member who was fatally shot a few months prior,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: knows about her. King Vaughn then laughs at KI for saying,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: on GD, then proceeds to tell her that she can
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: ask her dead friends about him. Three days later, KI
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: would tweet at King Vaughn saying, I want to meet
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn face to face, in which Vaughn would respond with, LOL,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: you don't really want that Kira. KI would then respond with, see,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: you don't think I'm tough. Four days later, KI would
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: once again tweet at King Vaughn, saying that she hopes
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: people in Oblock don't actually call Vaughn King Vaughn and
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: that it's suspect if you do. King Vaughn would respond
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: back by claiming that he earned the name King Vaughn.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: KI responds by bringing up the fact that Vaughn used
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: to get beat up back in the day. Vaughn replied
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: back laughing at the fact that KI was even talking
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: about getting beat up and that if it wasn't for guns,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: he would be walking up and down their block all day.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Six days later, King Von would make a tweet about K.I.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: saying that she sounds good on the phone. This would
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: indicate that King Von and K.I. physically talked on the
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: phone with each other and didn't just message each other
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: back and forth on social media. Von would also make
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: a tweet several hours later complaining that K.I. hasn't answered
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: her phone all day. King Von would eventually get arrested
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: on November 20, 2012 for unlawful use of a weapon
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: by a felon. This arrest led to King Von sitting
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: behind bars for over a year. While behind bars, King
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Von's sister Kayla B. tweeted at K.I. telling her that
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: Von misses her and that she should go and visit
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: him in jail. K.I. responded with LOL, but Kayla B.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: followed up insisting that her brother King Von really wanted
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: to see her. On February 11, 2014, King Von was
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: released from jail, and one of the first things he
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: did following his release was tweet to K.I. saying, What's up?
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: You don't miss me? KI would quickly respond with, What's up?
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: When are we linking up? King Von would then respond
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: by asking why she never came and visited him in
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: jail after allegedly saying she would. KI would not reply
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: directly to this tweet but moments later tweeted, How does
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: it feel to lose your friend while behind bars? Referring
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: to the death of J Money, one of the top
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: members of Oblock who was fatally shot during Von's incarceration.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn wouldn't say anything about the tweet, but would
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: later tweet RIPJ money in honor of him. KI would
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: soon retweet this as a way of taunting him to
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: which King Vaughn would quickly compose a tweet discussing Crack
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: and Modell, two STL gang members who unfortunately passed away.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: While all of this was going on, Oblock was already
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: making plans to avenge J Money after word got out
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: that an STL gang member by the name of Lil
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: B was allegedly responsible for the death of J Money.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Oblock was ready for Lil B, but before they could
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: meet face to face, Lil B was fatally shot by
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: the Chicago Police Department in March of 2014 after reportedly
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: pointing a gun at one of the officers. This means
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: that Oblock would not be able to avenge one of
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: their top members and were now looking for the next
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: best thing. On April 10th, 2014, KI would release a
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: series of tweets regarding her future. The tweets state, I
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: do what I do because I know God has a
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: day for me. You're nobody until someone kills you. That's
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: just real. I've seen too many of my friends in
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: a casket. Less than 24 hours after posting those tweets online,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: KI and several others were standing outside of a home
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: on the 6400 block of South Eberhardt when a man
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: exited the pass side of a blue Oldsmobile that was
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: parked facing eastbound on the corner of 65th and Eberhardt.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: The man proceeded to walk northbound on Eberhardt and quickly
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: began shooting at the group of people standing in front
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: of the house. The suspect would then retreat back to
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: the getaway vehicle and flee the scene going eastbound on
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: 65th Street. Three individuals were hit during the situation and
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals. The first victim was
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: an unidentified male who got shot in his right foot
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: and survived his injuries. The second victim was rumored to
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: be FBG Budda, the same individual that K.I. claimed to
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: have beaten up King Vaughn in the past. Budda was
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: shot in the right knee and also survived his injuries.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: The third and final victim was shot seven times and
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: passed away from their injuries during surgery at the hospital.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: That individual was K.I. Detectives would arrive to the crime
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: scene shortly after and began to interview anyone who saw
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: what happened. While there were many witnesses on scene, most
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: of them provided detectives with vague details about the case
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: with some of them even admitting that they are scared
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: to cooperate. However, certain witnesses gave the detectives a similar story,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: stating that a man wearing dark-colored clothing approached the house
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: and began to open fire while yelling things at them.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: These witnesses would also give detectives a name of someone
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: who they think may have committed the crime, a name
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: in which the Chicago Police Department were already quite familiar with.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Over the next couple of days, authorities would continue to
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: investigate the homicide of K.I. and eventually developed a photo
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: spread of potential suspects. Witnesses were soon called in to
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: view the photo spread, and almost all of them were
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: quick to point out the same suspect whose name was
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: given to detectives on the day of the crime. Then
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: on April 29, 2014, just 18 days after the murder
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: of K.I., Davon Bennett, a.k.a. King Vaughn, was taken into
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: custody by Officer Fernandez of the Chicago Police Department's Fugitive
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Apprehension Unit to be interviewed by detectives. At around 1pm,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn was placed in an interview room where two
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: detectives began to question him about his involvement in K.I.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: 's murder. Vaughn would quickly deny all involvement and stated
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: that he doesn't even know K.I. and never goes around
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: 65th Street. The detectives would then ask Vaughn if he
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: would be willing to do a polygraph examination to which
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: he would agree to do and was given food and water.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: While this interview was taking place, four cooperating witnesses were
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: called in so they could view an in-person lineup of
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: the suspects. The first witness to view the lineup told
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: authorities that they were unable to identify the suspect while
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: the second witness pointed to King Vaughn and said it
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: could possibly be the suspect but wasn't sure. The third
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: witness couldn't make an identification but verbally told detectives it
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: was King Vaughn. The fourth and final witness viewed the
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: lineup and pointed directly to King Vaughn. Two assistant state
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: attorneys would then arrive shortly after and began to review
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: all the evidence in the K.I. case. Detectives would then
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: go back to the interview room to check King Von
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: where Von would begin to tell detectives that he changed
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: his mind and will no longer do a polygraph exam.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: King Von then starts giving detectives an alibi claiming that
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: he checked in at his parole office on the day
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: of K.I. 's death. Detectives immediately started looking into Vaughn's
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: alibi and was able to confirm that he did in
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: fact check in at his parole office, but there was
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: still 30 minutes of unexplained time where he could have
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: still committed the crime. Then on April 30th, 2014, the
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Cook County State Attorney's Office would announce that they are
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: declining to prosecute King Vaughn for the murder of K.I.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: due to inconsistencies in the witness statements. This would mean
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: that internally this case is solved according to the Chicago
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: Police Department, but to the public this case is still
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: unsolved with the suspect still at large. King Vaughn was
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: then released from police custody around 6.30pm that same night.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: Less than two hours later, King Vaughn would tweet, I'm
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: so happy and grateful. I'm too real for this. King
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: Vaughn would then go on and get arrested for another
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: murder less than three months later. He sat in the
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Cook County Jail for over three years while awaiting trial.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: During the trial, King Vaughn was acquitted of all charges
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: due to lack of evidence and was released back into
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: the free world. After being released, lifelong friend and rapper
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Lil Durk would take King Von under his wing in
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: an attempt to turn him into a gangster rap superstar.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Within a matter of months, King Von would become one
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: of the top street rappers in the music industry, with
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: his music surpassing tens of millions of streams each month,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: and even received cosigns from A-list celebrities such as NBA
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: star LeBron James. Then, on November 6, 2020, King Von's
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: iconic music career would be cut short after he was
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: fatally shot in Atlanta during an altercation with another rapper.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: King Vaughn was 26 years old at the time.