Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk was acquitted Friday of all five charges in a federal murder-for-hire case that accused the Chicago artist of orchestrating a revenge plot targeting fellow rapper Quando Rondo, an attack that instead killed Rondo’s cousin.
A federal jury in Los Angeles found Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, not guilty of charges that included murder-for-hire, conspiracy, and stalking. The verdict came after roughly two weeks of testimony and three days of deliberations in a case that had threatened the 33-year-old rapper with a potential life sentence.
Prosecutors alleged Banks used his money and influence within his Only the Family, or OTF, music collective to set in motion an August 2022 attack on Tyquian Bowman, the Georgia rapper known professionally as Quando Rondo. Bowman survived the shooting at a Los Angeles gas station, but his cousin, 24-year-old Saviay’a Robinson, was killed.
The government characterized the shooting as retaliation for the 2020 killing of Banks’ close friend and fellow Chicago rapper King Von, whose legal name was Dayvon Bennett. Bennett was fatally shot after an altercation involving Bowman outside an Atlanta nightclub. Authorities alleged Banks later offered money for Bowman’s killing and that members of his circle traveled to California to carry out the attack. Banks denied directing the plot.
Banks’ attorneys attacked the credibility of cooperating witnesses who had pleaded guilty and testified for the government. The defense argued that former Banks associate Kavon Grant, rather than the rapper, was responsible for directing the operation and had access to financial accounts and other resources connected to Banks. Prosecutors relied heavily on testimony from former associates who described efforts to track Bowman and linked the alleged revenge campaign to Banks.
The trial also placed renewed scrutiny on prosecutors’ use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald allowed jurors to hear portions of several Banks songs that prosecutors said reflected his state of mind after King Von’s death. The defense maintained the music was artistic expression rather than proof that Banks ordered violence.
Banks appeared emotional as the verdict was read, according to the Los Angeles Times. Two men tried alongside him, Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey, were convicted of stalking-related charges but acquitted of the murder-for-hire counts.
The acquittal is a significant legal victory for one of the most commercially successful artists to emerge from Chicago’s drill scene, but it does not end Banks’ federal legal troubles. He remained in custody Friday because separate racketeering-related charges are pending. Fitzgerald previously severed those allegations from the murder-for-hire trial and ordered them tried separately.
Banks has been held in federal custody since his arrest in South Florida in October 2024. Federal authorities alleged at the time that he was preparing to leave the country after several other defendants in the investigation had been arrested. He pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys repeatedly maintained that prosecutors could not prove he authorized the Los Angeles shooting.
The case unfolded as Banks’ career had reached its highest levels of mainstream recognition. Known for blending the stark storytelling of Chicago drill with melodic rap, Lil Durk won his first Grammy in 2024 for “All My Life,” his collaboration with J. Cole. He has also worked with artists including Drake, Morgan Wallen, and Ye and has scored multiple No. 1 albums.
The trial became a draw beyond the courthouse, with supporters and social media personalities gathering outside the downtown Los Angeles proceedings and musicians, including Ye and Machine Gun Kelly, attending during testimony. But inside the courtroom, the central question remained whether prosecutors had proved that Banks’ anger over his friend’s death crossed the line from music and rhetoric into a criminal order.
On Friday, the jury’s answer was no.
