From Variety · Jem Aswad · · 1m 20s
Lil Durk Acquitted in Murder-for-Hire Case
A Los Angeles federal jury cleared the rapper of every charge in a 2022 mall shooting that killed a bystander.
In brief
A Los Angeles federal jury cleared the rapper of every charge in a 2022 mall shooting that killed a bystander. Prosecutors built a revenge-killing theory around Lil Durk and could not sell it to a jury, which acquitted him on all counts. Originally reported by Variety.
Not guilty on all counts
A Los Angeles federal jury found Lil Durk not guilty of murder-for-hire, conspiracy and stalking resulting in death, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The man on trial
Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Banks, is a Grammy-winning rapper. The verdict came down on Friday and closed the case against him.
The revenge theory
Prosecutors argued Banks sent hit men after rapper Quando Rondo, born Tyquian Bowman, to avenge the death of his friend Dayvon Bennett, known as King Von.
The wrong person died
The intended target survived. Prosecutors said the gunmen instead killed Bowman's cousin, Saviay'a Robinson, who was riding in the same vehicle.
Eighteen rounds at a mall
Three gunmen fired 18 rounds into the car at the Beverly Center, a crowded Los Angeles shopping mall, in 2022.
A story that did not stick
The jury rejected the government's account entirely, leaving Robinson's 2022 killing without a conviction attached to it.
The headline
Prosecutors built a revenge-killing theory around Lil Durk and could not sell it to a jury, which acquitted him on all counts.
