Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Banks, was acquitted on Friday of all charges in a federal murder-for-hire case. The case accused him of orchestrating the revenge killing of a man shot dead in a daytime ambush in Los Angeles four years ago.
Two co-defendants tried with the recording artist were acquitted of murder-for-hire-related charges but were found guilty on charges of conspiracy to commit stalking, as well as stalking with a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting death.
Although Banks was found not guilty of all those charges, he remains in custody and faces a separate trial scheduled for October 5 on murder-related racketeering and weapons offenses, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
Murder-For-Hire Case Details
A 32-page federal indictment filed in the case states that Banks is the leader of a violent criminal gang consisting of associates from his rap music label, One of the Family, which has engaged in robbery, murder, and drug trafficking.
The trial that ended on Friday stemmed from a fatal shooting on August 2022 at a gasoline station near the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles that prosecutors described as a planned hit.
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Banks, 33, who won the 2024 Grammy for best melodic rap performance for his hit single “All My Life,” was accused of ordering, financing, and masterminding the intended murder of a rival rapper, Quando Rondo, born Tyquian Bowman.
Alleged Motive and Mistaken Killing
Prosecutors claim that Banks placed a bounty on Bowman’s head as revenge for the killing two years earlier of a close friend of Banks, Dayvon “King Von” Bennett, by one of Bowman’s associates in an Atlanta nightclub.
The squad of killers who Banks allegedly sent to hunt down Bowman ended up killing Bowman’s 24-year-old cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, by mistake, in a hail of gunfire.
Defense lawyers have asserted that Banks had nothing to do with the plot, maintaining that it was a former personal assistant who ordered the hit to impress his boss, as reported by journalists on the scene.
The ex-assistant and two other Banks associates originally indicted with the rapper reached plea deals in the case and testified for the prosecution.
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Banks’ acquittal set off a celebration by the rap artist’s supporters outside the downtown Los Angeles federal courthouse where the trial was held.
As the case involved a violent criminal gang, it is similar to other instances where musicians have been linked to organized crime, highlighting the complexities of the music industry and its connections to criminal activity.
Banks’ case will continue with a separate trial on October 5, where he will face charges of murder-related racketeering and weapons offenses, along with his two co-defendants, Deandre Dontrell Wilson and David Brian Lindsey.
The upcoming trial is scheduled to take place on October 5. The separate trial will provide further insight into the alleged criminal activities of Banks and his associates, including the specifics of the racketeering and weapons offenses they are accused of, and will determine the outcome of these additional charges.