Rapper Lil Durk acquitted of murder-for-hire charges at Los Angeles federal trial
A federal jury found Chicago rapper Lil Durk not guilty of murder-for-hire after three days of deliberation. His two co-defendants were convicted of stalking charges.
Federal jury clears Lil Durk of murder-for-hire in Los Angeles
A federal jury in Los Angeles acquitted rapper Lil Durk on Friday of conspiracy, stalking resulting in death, and murder for hire, capitolcitynow.com reports. The jury deliberated for three days before returning its verdict in the two-week trial held in downtown Los Angeles.
Durk — whose legal name is Durk Banks — is a 33-year-old Grammy-winning hip-hop artist from Chicago, best known for the 2023 hit "All My Life." The case centred on the alleged attempted killing of rival rapper Quando Rondo at a Los Angeles gas station, a shooting that left Rondo's 24-year-old cousin, Saviay'a Robinson, known as Lul Pab, dead.
His two co-defendants, Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey, were convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking using a dangerous weapon, and stalking resulting in death. Both were, however, also acquitted of murder for hire.
"We thank the jury for seeing there was no murder for hire," Wilson's attorney Craig Harbaugh said in an emailed statement. "We are confident the remaining counts will not survive our pending motion for acquittal." Lindsey's lawyer, Tillet Mills, issued a similar statement, saying the jury saw that this "was never a murder for hire" and that "the fight is not over."
Prosecutors had alleged that Durk paid to have Rondo killed in retaliation for the 2020 fatal shooting of rapper King Von — a close friend of Durk's and a member of his Only The Family hip-hop collective — at an Atlanta nightclub. According to the prosecution, in August 2022 a group of men flew to Los Angeles with funds provided by Durk, tracked Rondo and his crew, and three gunmen opened fire on his Escalade near the Beverly Center shopping mall. Rondo survived the attack; Robinson did not.
"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 U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. "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."
Durk remains in custody. A separate racketeering count was severed from this trial, and a second trial is forthcoming. He has been jailed since his arrest in 2024.
During the proceedings, notable figures from the music industry — including Machine Gun Kelly and Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West — were present in the courtroom audience. Outside the courthouse, large groups of fans, livestreamers and content creators gathered throughout the trial.
Durk won a Grammy earlier in 2024 for Best Melodic Rap Performance for "All My Life," featuring J. Cole. He has received three additional Grammy nominations and appeared as a featured performer on Drake's "Laugh Now Cry Later."
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)