Lil Durk, born Durk Banks, has been acquitted of multiple criminal charges in his federal murder-for-hire case.
Following a weeks-long trial, the rapper, 33, was found not guilty Friday, Sept. 11, of all charges he faced in connection with a 2022 shooting near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Two co-defendants were also acquitted.
The charges included one count of conspiracy, one count of using interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and one count of "using, carrying, and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possession of such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death."
Banks was arrested in 2024 for his alleged involvement in the August 2022 fatal shooting of a rival rapper's cousin,
according to an indictment obtained by USA TODAY. He denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
Lil Durk is accused of orchestrating the murder of a rival rapper
Banks is accused of placing "bounties on individuals that he and other Banks Gang Enterprise members wanted to kill," including Georgia rapper Tyquian Bowman, known as Quando Rondo, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors allege that on Aug. 19, 2022, Banks had his associates track and stalk Bowman for several hours before firing at his car at least 18 times at a Los Angeles gas station. Bowman survived, but his cousin, Saviay'a "Lul Pab" Robinson, was killed.
Then-U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada announced the indictment in an October 2024 statement: “Mr. Banks is charged with orchestrating a cold-blooded murder that resulted in the death of a rival’s family member. Not only that, the shooting occurred in the open, at a gas station at a busy intersection, endangering many others in the area."
"Violent gun crime of this sort is devastating to our community and we will have zero-tolerance for those who perpetrate such callous acts of violence," Estrada added.
The musician was one of six people hit with federal murder-for-hire charges, alongside Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey and Asa Houston.
All but Banks were arrested in Chicago on Oct. 24, 2024, after which the Grammy winner allegedly booked three international flights in an attempt to flee the country. On Oct. 25, 2024, authorities arrested Banks at a Miami airport.
According to the indictment obtained by USA TODAY, Banks and his co-defendants allegedly targeted Bowman in retaliation for the killing of Chicago rapper Dayvon Bennett, whose stage name is King Von.
All the suspects are allegedly connected to Banks' hip-hop group Only The Family, which Bennett was an affiliate of, according to prosecutors. He also collaborated with Banks on several tracks, including "Crazy Story," and on Bennett's debut studio album "Welcome to O'Block."
On Nov. 6, 2020, Bennett died after he was shot outside an Atlanta nightclub during an argument that "escalated to gunfire," according to a statement provided by the Atlanta Police Department at the time. He was 26 years old.
Lil Durk's lawyers say he is not responsible
During the trial, Banks' defense attorneys Drew Findling and Brian Steel said the artist is innocent and highlighted that he was not in Los Angeles when the shooting took place, nor was there any evidence Banks ever paid out any money.
“This case is flooded. It is a tsunami of reasonable doubt,” Findling said during closing arguments Tuesday, Sept. 8, calling it "the bounty case with no money, the stalking case with no stalking.”
Instead, they placed the blame entirely on his co-conspirators, specifically Banks' former assistant Kavon Grant, an alleged longtime friend of Bennett, who was fired months before the shooting.
“[Grant] has manipulated every single person,” Findling said. “Would you fire someone you assigned to lead a killing? That is preposterous.”
Steel further said the prosecution's star witnesses were three of Banks' co-defendants who pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors. Steel alleged they only agreed to take the stand when they “were looking at life” in prison.
“You must understand that these are different witnesses. They are snitches, cooperators, rats,” Steel told jurors. “The only way they benefit is if they include Durk.”
Prosecutors shared a different perspective, alleging Banks “had his shooters on speed dial."
“No one is saying he was the one on the ground with a gun in his hand in Los Angeles, but you know this story doesn’t happen without him, and it doesn’t make sense without his leadership," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello added.
Yanniello said the shooters' flights and hotel rooms for the trip to Los Angeles were charged to Banks' credit cards. He also showed jurors a text message in which Banks wrote, "Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit me," which Yanniello alleged showed the rapper's intent to conceal his participation.
The defense argued the message pertained to a different trip that same weekend that Banks had decided not to attend.
Contributing: Jenna Ryu and Taijuan Moorman
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rapper Lil Durk found not guilty on all charges in murder-for-hire trial
