Lil Durk Acquitted on All Charges; He Still Faces Another Legal Hurdle
Lil Durk just won a massive legal victory. The Chicago-born rapper has been acquitted on all charges in his murder-for-hire trial. The legal victory is a massive one; if he had been convicted, he would have faced life behind bars. It’s not the only legal hoop he has to jump through to gain his freedom. Lil Durk remains in custody while he awaits a second trial for a separate racketeering charge. Here is where everything stands now.
Lil Durk has been acquitted
Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire trial has played out in headlines since August, with prosecutors arguing that Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, offered a $1 million bounty for the death of Quando Rondo. Prosecutors argued that Durk placed the hit on Rondo as retaliation for the 2020 death of King Von. The allegedly targeted shooting was botched, with Quando Rondo walking away from the incident that left his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, dead.
In 2024, Lil Durk was charged with five counts related to the shooting. They included conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, conspiracy to commit interstate stalking, interstate stalking involving a dangerous weapon, and interstate stalking resulting in death. If convicted, Lil Durk would have faced up to life behind bars.
A Los Angeles jury deliberated for three days following weeks of testimony. They returned a not guilty verdict on all charges in the early afternoon hours of September 11. His two co-defendants, Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey, received a mixed verdict. Both were found guilty on the stalking and stalking conspiracy charges but were acquitted on all remaining counts.
Reactions to the verdict came in fast
The verdict came as a surprise to some who have been following the case, but Lil Durk’s attorney, Drew Findling, framed the outcome in sweeping terms outside the courthouse. “Twenty-two months ago, Durk and I made an agreement that we would make history with the greatest verdict in this country, and it happened today,” Findling said. Findling called for Lil Durk’s release, though it’s not quite that simple.
Lil Durk’s father offered his own statement, though his was less victorious and more somber. He noted that he had great sympathy for the family of Saviay’a Robinson, noting that he knows what it feels like to lose a child.
The hip-hop community reacted to the verdict, too, with Lil Durk’s biggest supporters taking to social media to celebrate. According to Complex, Drake posted about the verdict; he is rumored to have covered some of Durk’s legal fees.
Lil Durk isn’t free yet
While Lil Durk’s acquittal is a big legal victory for him, he has not been released from custody. He has an additional hurdle to jump to gain his freedom. He’ll need to wait until next month for that. Lil Durk is set to stand trial on separate federal racketeering charges on October 5.
The racketeering charges are tied to two separate incidents beyond the Los Angeles case he was just acquitted in: a 2022 killing in Chicago and an alleged February 2019 attempted murder in Atlanta, the latter connected to a shooting at The Varsity restaurant that Banks was previously arrested in connection with back in 2019. The charges were originally included in the murder-for-hire trial, but Durk’s attorney successfully argued for them to be treated separately.
