What Was Lil Durk Charged With? Rapper Acquitted of Murder-for-Hire, Stalking Charges in Quando Rondo Case

Chicago rapper Lil Durk has been found not guilty on all charges in his federal murder-for-hire trial, ending a case that centered on an alleged plot to kill fellow rapper Quando Rondo.

After three days of deliberations, a federal jury acquitted the 33-year-old Grammy-winning rapper of conspiracy, stalking resulting in death and murder for hire on Friday. He remains in federal custody and is scheduled to face a separate trial involving murder-related racketeering and weapons offenses on Oct. 5.

“We thank the jury for seeing there was no murder for hire,” Wilson’s attorney Craig Harbaugh said in an email to CNN. “We are confident the remaining counts will not survive our pending motion for acquittal.”

What was Lil Durk charged with?

Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, faced five federal charges connected to a 2022 shooting in Los Angeles that killed Saviay’a Robinson, the cousin of Quando Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Bowman. The exact charges were 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.

The charges stemmed from prosecutors’ allegations that Lil Durk and members of his Only the Family, or OTF, collective orchestrated an attack targeting Quando Rondo.

The U.S. Department of Justice initially charged Banks with conspiracy, using interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and firearms-related offenses in a 2024 superseding indictment. Additional stalking allegations were subsequently added as the case developed.

Why was Lil Durk charged with murder-for-hire?

Prosecutors alleged that Lil Durk wanted revenge against Quando Rondo following the 2020 killing of his close friend and fellow rapper King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett.

According to the prosecution’s case, an associate of Rondo was accused of killing King Von. Prosecutors alleged that Lil Durk subsequently put a bounty on Rondo and helped arrange an attack against him.

The alleged plot culminated in a shooting near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles on Aug. 19, 2022. However, the attack did not kill Rondo.

Instead, Saviay’a Robinson, Rondo’s 24-year-old cousin, was fatally shot. Prosecutors alleged that shooters fired at least 18 rounds at the vehicle carrying Rondo and Robinson.

Did Lil Durk kill Quando Rondo’s cousin?

Lil Durk was not accused of personally carrying out the shooting. Prosecutors alleged that he orchestrated and financed the attempted attack through associates connected to OTF.

The prosecution presented evidence including travel records, financial records and testimony from people involved in the alleged plot. Prosecutors argued that Lil Durk’s influence and resources helped facilitate the attack.

The defense disputed that account and challenged the credibility of cooperating witnesses. Defense attorneys argued that Lil Durk was not responsible for organizing the shooting and pointed toward former associate Kavon Grant as the person who orchestrated the attack.

Why was Lil Durk acquitted?

The jury ultimately found that prosecutors had not proved the charges against Lil Durk beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense had attacked testimony from cooperating witnesses, including people who had entered plea agreements and could potentially receive sentencing benefits for their cooperation.

That became a major issue during the trial, with defense lawyers questioning whether those witnesses had sufficient reason to shift blame toward Lil Durk.