Rapper Lil Durk acquitted of murder-for-hire at Los Angeles trial

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A federal jury on Friday found rapper Lil Durk not guilty of the attempted killing for hire of rival rapper Quando Rondo at a Los Angeles gas station, a shooting that resulted in the death of Rondo’s cousin.

The jury deliberated for three days before acquitting Lil Durk, the 33-year-old Grammy-winning Chicago hip-hop artist best known for the 2023 hit “All My Life,” of conspiracy, stalking resulting in death and murder for hire.

Durk supporters including music stars Machine Gun Kelly and Ye — the artist formerly known as Kanye West — appeared in the audience during the two-week trial in downtown Los Angeles. Big groups of fans, livestreamers and other content creators gathered outside the courthouse.

Durk’s co-defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey were convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking using a dangerous weapon and stalking resulting in death. But both were 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 email. “We are confident the remaining counts will not survive our pending motion for acquittal.”

Attorneys for Durk and Lindsey did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, remained in custody, pending a forthcoming trial on a racketeering count that was severed from this trial. He has been jailed since his 2024 arrest .

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Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk charged with orchestrating 2022 Los Angeles killing

Prosecutors had alleged that Durk paid to have Rondo killed after someone from Rondo’s entourage fatally shot rapper King Von, a close friend of Durk’s and a member of his Only The Family hip-hop collective, at an Atlanta nightclub in 2020.

The prosecution alleged that in August 2022, a group of men flew to Los Angeles with funds provided by Durk, followed Rondo and his crew around, and three gunmen fired on his Escalade near the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles. Rondo survived, but his 24-year-old cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, known as Lul Pab, was killed.

“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 won a Grammy earlier that year for Best Melodic Rap Performance for “All My Life,” which features J. Cole. He has been nominated for three other Grammys and was a featured performer on Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later.”

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周五，联邦陪审团裁定说唱歌手 Lil Durk 在洛杉矶一家加油站雇凶杀害竞争对手说唱歌手 Quando Rondo 的未遂案中无罪，该枪击事件导致 Rondo 的表弟死亡。

陪审团经过三天的审议，宣布 33 岁的格莱美获奖芝加哥嘻哈歌手 Lil Durk 无罪，他因 2023 年的热门歌曲“All My Life”而闻名，被控串谋、跟踪致死和雇凶杀人。

在洛杉矶市中心为期两周的庭审期间，包括音乐明星Machine Gun Kelly和Ye（原名Kanye West）在内的Durk的支持者出现在旁听席上。大批粉丝、直播主播和其他内容创作者聚集在法院外。

杜克的同案被告德安德烈·威尔逊和大卫·林赛被判犯有共谋跟踪罪、使用危险武器跟踪罪和跟踪致死罪。但两人均被判无罪，罪名是雇凶杀人。

“我们感谢陪审团认定这并非雇凶杀人，”威尔逊的律师克雷格·哈博在电子邮件中表示。“我们相信，剩余的指控不会在我们即将提出的无罪动议中得到驳回。”

Durk 和 Lindsey 的律师尚未回复寻求置评的电子邮件。

杜克（其法定姓名为杜克·班克斯）仍被羁押，等待即将开庭审理的敲诈勒索罪指控，该指控已从本次审判中分离出来。他自2024年被捕以来一直被监禁。

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格莱美奖得主、说唱歌手 Lil Durk 被控策划 2022 年洛杉矶枪击案

检察官指控，在 2020 年亚特兰大一家夜总会，说唱歌手 King Von（Durk 的密友，也是他旗下嘻哈团体 Only The Family 的成员）被 Rondo 的随行人员枪杀后，Durk 付钱雇人杀害了 Rondo。

检方指控，2022年8月，一群男子在杜克提供的资金支持下飞往洛杉矶，尾随隆多及其随行人员，并在洛杉矶比佛利中心购物中心附近向隆多的凯迪拉克凯雷德开枪。隆多幸存，但他24岁的表弟萨维亚·罗宾逊（绰号“卢尔·帕布”）不幸遇难。

“今天，陪审团为萨维亚·罗宾逊的家人伸张了正义，认定被告德安德烈·威尔逊和大卫·林赛犯有跟踪罪，导致罗宾逊先生死亡，”美国第一助理检察官比尔·埃萨利在一份声明中说。“虽然我们对陪审团关于杜克·班克斯（又名‘小杜克’）的判决感到失望，但我们期待在他的第二次审判中提交我们的证据。”

同年早些时候，Durk凭借与J. Cole合作的歌曲《All My Life》获得了格莱美最佳旋律说唱表演奖。他还曾三次获得格莱美奖提名，并参与了Drake的歌曲《Laugh Now Cry Later》的录制。