Latest victim of rap war?
BY FRANK MAIN AND JON SEIDEL Staff Reporters October 17, 2012 9:36PM
Photo of Keith Bonds, a Black Disciples member who police believe was killed in retaliation for the September 4, 2012 slaying of up-and-coming rapper Joseph "Lil JoJo" Coleman.
Updated: November 19, 2012 3:35PM
Was Keith Bonds the latest victim of a South Side rapper war?
Bonds, a 26-year-old parolee, was shot to death on the afternoon of Sept. 17 near 59th and Normal.
Bonds, known as “Keke,” was standing near a tree when someone in a vacant lot shot him at least three times, said a woman who lives there and heard the shots.
There’s still a makeshift memorial to Bonds on the spot where he was killed. “No one can ever replace you,” one note says.
The area is known in the Englewood Police District as “Lamron,” or Normal spelled backwards. It’s a stronghold of Black Disciples gang members, and police say Bonds was one of them.
Sources say police are investigating whether his murder was in retribution for the Sept. 4 killing of Joseph “Li JoJo” Coleman.
JoJo, a reputed Gangster Disciples member, was the victim of a drive-by shooting near 69th and Princeton — a GD stronghold of a faction known as the “Brick Squad” in Englewood.
He was killed after supporters of star Chicago rapper Chief Keef got into a war of words over the Internet with JoJo, an up-and-coming rapper.
A Tweet posted on Chief Keef’s Twitter account mocked JoJo’s death, stoking the anger of JoJo’s supporters, authorities said.
Chief Keef has hung out with Black Disciples members in the area, sources said. They said police are investigating a theory that Brick Squad members were gunning for Black Disciples after JoJo’s death.
Bonds wasn’t associated with Chief Keef, but he fit the bill as a target because he was a BD, sources said.
Chief Keef, who is not accused of wrongdoing in the slaying of JoJo, didn’t even know him, said his attorney, Dennis Berkson. Berkson said he thinks JoJo picked a fight with his client to get recognized in the rap world.
