Rapper ‘Lil Durk’ acquitted in murder-for-hire trial after three days of jury deliberations
(Lil Durk)
Grammy-winning Chicago rapper Lil Durk has been found not guilty in a federal murder-for-hire case stemming from a 2022 Los Angeles shooting that left the cousin of rival rapper Quando Rondo dead.
A federal jury in Los Angeles reached its verdict Friday, Sept. 11, after deliberating for three days following a two-week trial. Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, was acquitted of charges including conspiracy, stalking resulting in death and murder-for-hire.
Prosecutors alleged that Durk helped orchestrate an attack intended to kill Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Bowman, as revenge for the 2020 killing of Durk’s close friend and fellow rapper King Von. According to prosecutors, several men traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles in August 2022 and tracked Rondo before opening fire on his vehicle near the Beverly Center.
Rondo survived the attack, but his 24-year-old cousin, Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson, was killed. Prosecutors said three gunmen fired 18 rounds at the vehicle.
The government relied heavily on testimony from cooperating witnesses, while Durk’s defense attorneys challenged their credibility and portrayed them as unreliable witnesses seeking favorable treatment in their own cases.
Two co-defendants, Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey, were convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking with a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting in death. However, they, too, were acquitted of the murder-for-hire charges.
The acquittal does not immediately end Durk’s legal battle. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, he remains in custody after his 2024 arrest while awaiting a separate trial involving a racketeering charge that was severed from the current case.
Durk, 33, rose to prominence in Chicago’s drill-rap scene and has scored multiple top-five albums. His collaboration with J. Cole, “All My Life,” earned him a Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance and became one of his biggest commercial successes.
The high-profile trial drew crowds of fans, livestreamers and media outside the Los Angeles courthouse, while musicians including Ye and Machine Gun Kelly appeared in support of the rapper.
For Durk, Friday’s verdict represents a major legal victory in a case that could have resulted in a life sentence had he been convicted.
For more on a federal jury finding Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk ‘not guilty on all charges’ Friday in a murder-for-hire case tied to a deadly 2022 shooting near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, see the video below.
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(Sources: Associated Press, Chicago Sun-Times, Entertainment Weekly, Variety)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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