*Lil Durk was acquitted on every charge in his federal murder-for-hire trial, but the Grammy-winning Chicago rapper isn’t going home because prosecutors still have a separate racketeering case against him.
A Los Angeles federal jury cleared Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, on Friday after three days of deliberations. The verdict ended a high-stakes trial over prosecutors’ allegations that he ordered and financed a 2022 attack targeting rapper Quando Rondo, whose legal name is Tyquian Bowman.
Bowman survived. His 24-year-old cousin, Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson, was killed.
Jury Rejects the Case Against Lil Durk
Prosecutors alleged the attack was retaliation for the 2020 killing of Durk’s close friend and fellow rapper King Von, born Dayvon Bennett.
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The government contended that Durk put a bounty on Bowman and that people associated with his Only the Family collective traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles before gunmen fired at least 18 rounds at Bowman’s vehicle.
Durk’s defense denied that he ordered the attack and argued that former assistant Kavon Grant carried out the plot without the rapper’s knowledge.
Three associates who accepted plea deals testified against Durk, Reuters reported.
The jury ultimately acquitted Durk of all charges he faced in this trial. Two co-defendants, Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey, were also acquitted of the central murder-for-hire allegations but convicted on stalking-related charges.
EURweb Flagged the Stakes Before Trial
The verdict closes a chapter EURweb began following before the trial, when jurors were being questioned about rap music, violence and whether Durk’s lyrics could affect their judgment.
Prosecutors were allowed to introduce portions of Durk’s music and videos as evidence, including material they argued supported their theory of retaliation. His attorneys pushed back against treating artistic expression as proof of real-world criminal conduct.
The acquittal means prosecutors failed to convince jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Durk committed the crimes charged in this case. It does not establish what weight jurors gave the music or other individual pieces of evidence.
So Why Is Lil Durk Still in Jail?
Because this wasn’t Durk’s last federal case.
As Reuters reports, Durk remains in federal custody while awaiting an Oct. 5 trial on separate murder-related racketeering and weapons charges.
EURweb previously reported that prosecutors expanded the federal case against Durk with additional racketeering allegations before the charges were separated for trial.
Federal prosecutors have indicated they intend to move forward with that second case.
That distinction is crucial amid celebrations of Durk’s courtroom victory: he has been acquitted of every charge decided by this jury, but his federal legal battle isn’t over.
For now, one of the biggest cases hanging over Durk’s career has ended with a complete acquittal — while another is only weeks away.
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