Devonsha Collier Obituary, Death; – Eight years after being acquitted of a murder charge, a South Side drill rapper closely associated with Chicago artist Lil Durk was fatally shot in Little Village over the weekend.
Devonsha Collier, 35, who performed under the name “THF Bayzoo,” was shot and critically injured around 3 p.m. on Saturday in the 3100 block of South St. Louis Avenue, as reported by Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
According to police, two other men, aged 39 and 42, were also injured in the incident. Collier was declared dead early Sunday at Mount Sinai Hospital. As of Monday, no suspects had been apprehended.
Surveillance footage allegedly depicting the shooting was rapidly disseminated on social media platforms frequented by fans of Chicago’s drill rap culture. The video captures two assailants approaching Collier and two others before opening fire from mere feet away.
In 2014, Collier was arrested at the Orland Park residence of Lil Durk — whose real name is Durk Banks — and charged with murder in connection with the 2009 shooting death of a man in Bronzeville. Banks, who was on probation for a pending weapons charge at the time, was also taken into custody but was later exonerated.
Collier was accused of murdering 21-year-old Dominic Barnes in the 4700 block of South Forrestville Avenue during the Fourth of July weekend in 2009. During Collier’s initial court appearance, prosecutors alleged that he approached Barnes to inquire about his gang affiliation before shooting him. Several witnesses reportedly observed Collier firing the fatal shots.
Court documents indicate that a Cook County jury acquitted Collier in December 2017. In the years that followed, he encountered at least two additional felony gun cases. Court records reveal that charges were dismissed in one instance, while Collier was found not guilty in the other.
Collier is at least the fourth close associate of Banks to be shot and killed in the past decade.
Banks’ former manager, Uchenna Agina, known as “Chino,” was shot and murdered in 2015 outside a restaurant in the Avalon Park neighborhood when a gunman approached and opened fire.
In 2020, fellow Chicago drill rapper King Von born Dayvon Bennett, a protégé of Lil Durk was shot and killed in Atlanta. The following year, Lil Durk’s brother was fatally shot outside a nightclub in south suburban Harvey.
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles now allege that the shooting of King Von prompted Lil Durk to fund a murder-for-hire plot in revenge for the killing. Lil Durk has remained held in federal lockup in Los Angeles for a year, and his trial is expected to commence in 2026.
An attorney for Lil Durk did not respond to a request for comment.
