Odee Perry was a 20-year-old Chicago man shot to death near the Parkway Gardens housing complex on the city’s South Side in August 2011, and his name became the root of “O’Block,” the Black Disciples faction label that would mark one of Chicago’s most lethal gang rivalries, saturate the city’s drill rap scene, and surface years later in a federal racketeering trial over the murder of rapper FBG Duck.
How Odee Perry Was Killed
Perry was shot at roughly 11:35 p.m. on August 10, 2011, near 64th Street and South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in the West Woodlawn neighborhood, close to Parkway Gardens.1Chicago Tribune. Man, 20, Fatally Shot Near South Side Housing Complex He was hit multiple times, including once in the neck, taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County, and pronounced dead shortly after midnight on August 11.2CBS News Chicago. Man Shot Dead Near South Side Housing Complex He had been living on the 10900 block of South Racine Avenue.
No one has ever been publicly charged in Perry’s murder. Police had no suspects in custody the morning after the shooting.3Chicago Tribune. Man, 20, Fatally Shot Near South Side Housing Complex Law enforcement sources later identified Gakirah Barnes, a teenage member of a rival Gangster Disciples faction who would have been 14 at the time, as a suspect. She was never charged, with investigators citing a lack of physical evidence and reluctant witnesses.4Chicago Sun-Times. Gakirah Barnes, Teenage Female Assassin
Where the Name O’Block Comes From
Parkway Gardens is a 35-building, 694-unit complex running along South King Drive on the western edge of Woodlawn.5Chicago Tribune. Violence Endures at Parkway Gardens Even With a Deep-Pocketed Owner By 2011 the Black Disciples controlled it and both sides of King Drive, with rival Gangster Disciples factions holding the surrounding blocks. After Perry’s death, members of his faction began calling the 6400 block of South King Drive “O’Block,” taking the “O” directly from his name.6Chicago Sun-Times. O Block, Most Dangerous Block in Chicago The area was also sometimes called “Wiiic City,” short for “Wild, Insane, Crazy.”
The label stuck because the violence did. Between June 2011 and June 2014, 19 people were shot on that single block, making it the most dangerous block in Chicago by shooting frequency over that span.6Chicago Sun-Times. O Block, Most Dangerous Block in Chicago At least 41 shootings occurred in and around the complex between 2012 and 2017.5Chicago Tribune. Violence Endures at Parkway Gardens Even With a Deep-Pocketed Owner
The Retaliation Chain That Followed
Perry’s killing sat in the middle of a long sequence of tit-for-tat shootings between the O’Block set of the Black Disciples and the “Tookaville” faction of the Gangster Disciples. Reading the sequence end to end is the clearest way to understand why Perry’s name keeps resurfacing.
It began in January 2011, seven months before Perry was shot. Fifteen-year-old Shondale “Tooka” Gregory was killed by a gunman while waiting at a bus shelter on East 63rd Street, in what police investigated as a gang-related shooting.7CBS News Chicago. Boy, 16, Killed in Possible Gang-Related Shooting The Gangster Disciples faction in the area took the name “Tookaville” in Gregory’s memory, mirroring what Black Disciples would later do for Perry.
Perry’s death in August 2011 was believed by some to be retaliation for Gregory’s killing, with police theorizing that Gakirah Barnes carried out the shooting.4Chicago Sun-Times. Gakirah Barnes, Teenage Female Assassin8Chicago Sun-Times. FBG Duck, King Von, Gakirah Barnes9ABC 7 Chicago. King Von Dead After Atlanta Shooting10The Press Democrat. Shooting Suspect Charged With Murder in Rapper King Von’s Death
Perry’s Name in Drill Rap
Perry’s death became a recurring reference in Chicago drill. Rappers aligned with O’Block, including Chief Keef, Lil Durk, and King Von, named Perry and the O’Block block in lyrics, often as taunts aimed at Tookaville.11Chicago Sun-Times. FBG Duck, O’Block, Tookaville, King Von, Drill Rap Chief Keef, who had spent time at Parkway Gardens, helped push the complex into national awareness through lyrics that were described as “blood-drenched.”6Chicago Sun-Times. O Block, Most Dangerous Block in Chicago
From the other side, rapper FBG Duck, whose real name was Carlton Weekly, was a central Tookaville figure. In July 2020 he released “Dead Bitches” on YouTube. Federal prosecutors later called it a “particularly blistering diss record” that named Perry and other dead O’Block associates, including Sheroid Liggins, the younger brother of one of the men eventually convicted of killing FBG Duck.12Chicago Tribune. Trial Set for 6 Reputed Members of Chicago’s O-Block Gang The video drew more than 41 million views, and prosecutors argued it pushed the rivalry to a “fever pitch.”11Chicago Sun-Times. FBG Duck, O’Block, Tookaville, King Von, Drill Rap
The Federal Trial Over FBG Duck’s Murder
On August 4, 2020, roughly a month after “Dead Bitches” came out, FBG Duck was shot and killed on East Oak Street in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Two other people were wounded. Prosecutors said the attack was a coordinated hit by O’Block members and that King Von, before his own death three months later, had placed a bounty on FBG Duck.13ABC 7 Chicago. FBG Duck Death Verdict
In October 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced federal racketeering and murder charges against five O’Block members: Charles “C Murda” Liggins, Kenneth “Kenny Mac” Roberson, Tacarlos “Los” Offerd, Christopher “C Thang” Thomas, and Marcus “Muwop” Smart. The charges included murder in aid of racketeering, federal firearm violations, and assaults in aid of racketeering.14U.S. Department of Justice. Five Alleged Street Gang Members Charged With Federal Racketeering Offenses Including Murder A sixth defendant, Ralph “Teezy” Turpin, was added through a superseding indictment unsealed on April 10, 2023, charged with murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.15U.S. Department of Justice. Superseding Indictment Charges Additional Defendant
The three-month trial featured drill rap videos introduced as evidence, with prosecutors arguing the genre was “central to O Block’s identity” and that members used songs and videos to claim credit for violence and taunt rivals.11Chicago Sun-Times. FBG Duck, O’Block, Tookaville, King Von, Drill Rap
On January 17, 2024, a federal jury found all six defendants guilty. Each was convicted of murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder, and five were also convicted of using a firearm during the murder.16Chicago Sun-Times. Jury Verdict in FBG Duck Murder The convictions carry mandatory life sentences. U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold set sentencing hearings running through the summer and fall of 2024, beginning with Liggins on August 6 and ending with Thomas on September 17.17U.S. Department of Justice. Six Members or Associates of Violent Street Gang Convicted
Perry himself was never a party to any of it. He was 20 years old, shot near the complex where he lived, in a case that no one has been publicly charged with. What came after, the block name, the lyrics, the retaliations, and the federal verdicts more than twelve years later, is the reason his name is still searched.