Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk was found not guilty in a murder-for-hire plot that targeted rival rapper Quando Rondo and killed another man in an alleged revenge attack for the death of a close friend.
Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Banks, was acquitted Friday on charges of conspiracy, stalking resulting in death and murder for hire following three days of deliberation by a federal jury in Los Angeles.
The trial was attended by a throng of Durk supporters at the downtown LA federal courthouse, including artists Machine Gun Kelly and Kanye West.
“Lil Durk is not guilty on ALL COUNTS,” Ye wrote on X.
The 33-year-old Chicago native was accused of paying for a group of men to fly out to Los Angeles in August 2022 and follow Rondo and his entourage before three gunmen opened fire on the rapper’s Cadillac Escalade outside a gas station near the Beverly Center shopping mall.
Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman, survived the shooting, but his 24-year-old cousin Saviay’a Robinson, also known as Lul Pab, was killed.
Approximately 18 rounds had been dumped into the SUV Rondo was in with his cousin.
Prosecutors alleged that the plot was a revenge attack on Rondo after a member of his crew killed Durk’s close friend and rapper King Von, whose real name is Dayvon Bennett, in a shooting at an Atlanta nightclub in 2020.
The initial deadly shooting was sparked when Bennett and Rondo got into a fistfight at a hookah lounge before the former was fatally shot.
“(Durk) had his shooters on speed dial,” Assistant US Attorney Ian Yanniello said in his closing arguments, according to the Los Angeles Times. “No one is saying he was the one on the ground with a gun in his hand in Los Angeles, but you know this story doesn’t happen without him, and it doesn’t make sense without his leadership.”
“(Durk) used his money, his power, and his influence to try to kill his biggest opp,” Yanniello added.
Testimonies from Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester and Keith Jones, two men who admitted to the shooting, were used in the trial alongside Durk’s former personal assistant Kavon Grant, the outlet reported.
Attorneys for Durk painted Hester, Jones and Grant as unreliable “snitches, cooperators, rats” who had testified to get lighter sentences.
He claimed Grant was a “master of deception” who had access to Durk’s money to secure the guns and get revenge for Bennett’s death, his cousin.
“[Federal agents] targeted Durk,” defense attorney Brian Steel said, according the Los Angeles Times.
Durk’s two co-defendants, Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking using a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting in death in Robinson’s murder trial.
The jury had acquitted the two of murder for hire.
“Today, the jury delivered justice to the family of Saviay’a Robinson, finding defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey guilty of stalking resulting in Mr. Robinson’s death,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said after the verdicts. “While we are disappointed with the jury’s decision regarding Durk Banks, a.k.a. ‘Lil Durk,’ we look forward to presenting our evidence at his second trial.”
Wilson’s attorney has already requested that the judge acquit him of the convictions.
“We thank the jury for seeing there was no murder for hire,” Craig Harbaugh told the Associated Press. “We are confident the remaining counts will not survive our pending motion for acquittal.”
Durk remains behind bars, despite the acquittal, as he awaits a trial for a racketeering charge
He is best known for his hit 2023 “All My Life” featuring J. Cole that won the Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance.
With Post wires
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