{"id":844725,"date":"2026-09-12T00:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T00:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/844725\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T00:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T00:54:14","slug":"lil-durk-acquitted-in-murder-for-hire-trial-over-quando-rondo-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/844725\/","title":{"rendered":"Lil Durk Acquitted in Murder-for-Hire Trial Over Quando Rondo Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLil Durk<\/a> has been acquitted of all charges accusing him of orchestrating a murder-for-hire conspiracy that targeted Quando Rondo<\/a> and ultimately killed the rival rapper\u2019s cousin.<\/p>\n

\n\tA jury in Los Angeles federal court deliberated for three days before finding the once-ascendant Chicago drill star (Durk Banks) not guilty on Friday (Sept. 11) of murder-for-hire, stalking and conspiracy counts that could have subjected him to life in prison, Billboard confirmed. Durk\u2019s alleged co-conspirators, David \u201cBrowneyez\u201d Lindsey and Deandre \u201cOTF Dede\u201d Wilson, were convicted of stalking and conspiracy but acquitted of murder-for-hire as well. They\u2019ll be sentenced at a later date.<\/p>\n

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\n\tProsecutors claimed during a two-week trial<\/a> that Durk ordered his Only the Family (OTF) crew to murder Rondo in retaliation for the 2020 killing of his close friend and collaborator King Von<\/a>. Rondo was shot at a Los Angeles gas station in 2022 and survived, but his cousin Saviay\u2019a Robinson, also known as Lul Pab, was killed in the crossfire.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe case rested largely on testimony from three alleged participants<\/a> in the plot who pled guilty and became government cooperators: Kacey \u201cOTF Jam\u201d Hester, Keith \u201cFlacka\u201d Jones, and Kavon \u201cVonnie\u201d Grant. The trio told jurors that Durk planned for a group of shooters to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2022 and offered cash rewards for the attack, though no payments were ever completed.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe jury also heard some of Durk\u2019s music during the trial, including his top 40 hits \u201cWho Want Smoke??\u201d, \u201cAhhh Ha\u201d and \u201cPissed Me Off.\u201d Prosecutors argued that Durk telegraphed the Rondo murder plot in these tracks, such as in the \u201cAhhh Ha\u201d lyrics, \u201cDon\u2019t respond to s\u2013t with Von\/ I\u2019m like, \u2018f\u2013k it, you trippin\u2019, go get your gun\u2019\/ They droppin\u2019 locations, I\u2019m gettin\u2019 it done\/ F\u2013k tweetin\u2019, we slidin\u2019, the feds are comin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDurk has consistently maintained that he had nothing to do with the shooting. His lawyers argued throughout the trial that the cooperating witnesses were lying<\/a> and that Vonnie, who had access to Durk\u2019s credit cards as his personal assistant, was the real mastermind of the plot.<\/p>\n

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\n\tDefense attorneys said Vonnie and the other cooperators falsely pinned the blame on Durk because the famous rapper was a \u201cbig fish\u201d that they could hand over to prosecutors and, in exchange, get shorter prison sentences of their own. They leaned hard into attacking Vonnie\u2019s credibility, playing recordings of jailhouse phone calls where he said the trial would be his \u201ctime to shine\u201d and \u201cperform.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDurk\u2019s team also strongly urged the jury not to give any weight to his lyrics, saying his music is artistic expression tailored towards commercial appeal and does not reflect any literal plans or admissions. The use of rap lyrics in criminal trials is a controversial practice<\/a> that\u2019s been banned by many states but remains legal in federal prosecutions.<\/p>\n

\n\tFriday\u2019s verdict is not the end of the road for Durk\u2019s criminal case. He still faces additional racketeering counts<\/a> that accuse him of operating his OTF label as a violent gang. Prosecutors tacked on these charges just two months before trial, a move that Durk\u2019s lawyers criticized as \u201clipstick on a pig\u201d and said was a tactic designed to bolster a \u201cvery weak case\u201d with unrelated evidence.<\/p>\n

\n\tJudge Michael W. Fitzgerald excluded those new counts<\/a> from the original trial and scolded prosecutors for the last-minute gambit. The extra charges, brought under the federal Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity statute, could now be set for a separate trial if the prosecution opts to move forward with them.<\/p>\n

\n\tDurk\u2019s trial has captivated the hip-hop world, drawing droves of fans sporting in \u201cFree Durk\u201d t-shirts. Even fellow artists like Ye (formerly Kanye West<\/a>) and mgk<\/a> have shown up to court<\/a> to lend support to Durk.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Chicago native, who rose to fame in his hometown\u2019s drill scene before signing with Def Jam and later Alamo Records, was at the peak of his career when he was arrested in 2024<\/a> while attempting to get on a flight to Dubai. He had just two years prior achieved his first his first solo No. 1 album<\/a> on the Billboard 200, 7220. His follow-up, Almost Healed, debuted at No. 3<\/a> on the chart in 2023.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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