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Prosecutors alleged the plot was retaliation for the 2020 killing of Durk’s close friend, rapper King Von. Durk remains in custody ahead of a second trial on federal racketeering and firearms charges
Lil Durk has been acquitted in the murder-for-hire plot targeting rival rapper Quando Rondo — a botched scheme that left one person, Rondo’s cousin, dead in a shooting.
According to reports from the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and ABC7 Los Angeles, the 33-year-old Chicago-based rapper, born Durk Banks, was found not guilty on Friday, Sept. 11, by a federal jury on charges including conspiracy, stalking resulting in death and murder for hire.
The jury deliberated for three days before finding the Grammy winner — best known for the 2023 hit “All My Life” — not guilty in the August 2022 attempted murder plot.
Prosecutors alleged during the trial that Durk paid a group of men to fly to Los Angeles and follow Rondo, born Tyquian Bowman, and his crew around before three gunmen fired at Rondo’s Escalade near the Beverly Center shopping mall on Aug. 19, 2022.
Rondo survived the alleged plot, but his 24-year-old cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, known as Lul Pab, was killed.
Prosecutors claimed that the murder-for-hire allegations stemmed from a 2020 incident in which someone from Rondo’s entourage fatally shot rapper King Von at an Atlanta nightclub. Von was a close friend of Durk’s and a member of his Only the Family hip-hop collective.
Durk pleaded not guilty, and his defense team argued during the trial’s opening statements that he had no involvement in the murder-for-hire plot. His attorneys claimed that his former personal assistant, Kavon Grant, was the one who set up the intended killing.
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Durk’s co-defendants in the trial, David Lindsey — whom prosecutors alleged was one of the shooters— and Deandre Wilson were convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking using a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting in death, the outlets reported. However, Wilson and Lindsey were acquitted 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 U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told AP and the Times 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.”
Over the course of the trial, swarms of fans stood outside the courthouse — many of whom wore “Free Durk” shirts and played his music from speakers — in an attempt to get a seat inside the courtroom. Several public figures showed their support for the rapper during the case, including Kanye West and MGK.
After the verdict was read on Friday, Durk’s attorney Drew Findling addressed the crowd.
“And now we work to … pull the shackles off,” Findling said. “The shackles must come off, and he must walk free, so he can come home to his beautiful family and to the world that loves him.”
Durk remains in custody in L.A. ahead of a second trial, set for Oct. 5, on federal racketeering and firearms charges. He faces a life sentence if convicted on all counts.
Read the original article on People