Closing arguments in the trial surrounding the brazen killing of rapper FBG Duck are expected to begin this week — nearly three months after the extraordinary proceedings began to slowly unfold.
Federal prosecutors have linked the killing of FBG Duck, whose real name is Carlton Weekly, to a yearslong gang war between Duck’s Tookaville faction of the Gangster Disciples and the O Block set of the Black Disciples.
On trial in the murder and racketeering case are Marcus Smart, 24; Christopher Thomas, 24; Kenneth Roberson, 30; Charles Liggins, 32; Tacarlos Offerd, 32; and Ralph Turpin, 34.
The feds say O Block is a criminal enterprise and allege that thedefendants participated in the shooting “for the purpose of maintaining and increasing position” within the gang faction.
However, they have acknowledged that Roberson and Turpin are members of other crews that are merely “cliqued up” with O Block.
Less than a month before Duck was gunned down on Aug. 4, 2020, he released a scathing song called “Dead Bitches” that mocked a list of slain O Block members, including Liggins’ brother.
The track came amid Duck’s longstanding beef with King Von, another popular drill rapper, whose real name is Dayvon Bennett, whom prosecutors described as an O Block leader.
Roberson said he took part in Duck’s killing because Von had placed a hit on his rival, according to testimony from Roberson’s friend. Jurors also heard testimony about Von purchasing diamond-encrusted O Block pendants, some of them custom-made for Liggins and Smart and worn by Offerd and Thomas.
Von was shot and killed in Atlanta in November 2020.
Prosecutors allege Turpin spotted Duck while the rapper was shopping in the Gold Coast and summoned his O Block rivals to the tony shopping district. Two carloads of people soon departed Parkway Gardens, a housing complex at 64th Street and King Drive that’s also known as O Block.
Using surveillance video and license plate-reading technology, prosecutors showed how the cars drove together to the first block of Oak Street. At 4:26 p.m., four gunmen hopped out of the vehicles and shot Duck repeatedly, also striking his girlfriend and a bystander.
Offerd then returned his Ford Fusion to a suburban car dealership, where his child’s mother testified that she picked him up alongside Smart and another suspect who later took his own life.
Chicago police seized Roberson’s Chrysler 300 a day later and recovered a shell casing that matched evidence recovered at the scene.
To make their case, prosecutors relied on combative bloggers who sparred with defense attorneys and offered testimony that conflicted with their previous statements. One of those witnesses, Rakeem “FBG Butta” Wilton, is at the center of the case’s second motion for a mistrial.
Steve Greenberg, one of Roberson’s lawyers, alleged on Dec. 12 that another blogger had been wrongfully removed from the courtroom after she falsely reported that Wilton or his mother had been paid for his cooperation.
Prosecutors urged Judge Martha Pacold to deny Greenberg’s motion on Dec. 21, insisting that blogger Aleta “Mickey Truth” Williams had been temporarily removed “for her own safety” because Wilton was upset with her.
Wilton claimed Williams posted a photograph of his mother after he testified on Dec. 6. The following day, Wilton said the case was “putting my family’s safety in jeopardy” and threatened to attack Williams, according to the filing.
“I’ll jump over whoever,” said Wilton, who attempted to run away from a witness waiting room. “I’ll do whatever I got to do to [expletive] her up.”
Although Pacold ruled that Williams could remain in the courtroom, Williams was escorted away by a member of the U.S. Marshals Service who hadn’t heard the decision.
In an affidavit, Williams said she decided to return to her out-of-state home after learning of the threat and being offered the opportunity to watch from another courtroom.
Prosecutors noted there have been security concerns throughout the trial. Perhaps most alarming, witnesses “have received numerous threats on social media” and unknown people have “lurked outside the home of testifying witnesses’ parents.”
On Saturday, Greenberg noted that Williams never posted a photo of Wilton’s mother and argued there was no justifiable reason to remove her.
“The real reason Ms. Williams was removed was because the Government wanted to hide Wilton’s unprovoked rage from the jury,” Greenberg wrote.
Pacold hasn’t ruled on Greenberg’s mistrial motion.
In a separate filing on Monday, Roberson’s attorneys formally requested that Pacold acquit him on all counts because he isn’t a member of O Block, as alleged.
