Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire trial opens in LA

The murder-for-hire trial of rapper Lil Durk, born Durk Banks, opened in Los Angeles federal court with prosecutors alleging he orchestrated a 2022 revenge shooting against rival rapper Quando Rondo after a friend, King Von, was killed in a 2020 Atlanta altercation involving Rondo's entourage. The hired shooters missed Rondo but killed his 24-year-old cousin, Saviay'a Robinson, in a spray of gunfire outside a Los Angeles gas station.

Prosecutors say Banks recruited and flew out three men, who then hired two more, and that the group tailed Rondo for days before the shooting while Banks waited by the phone; three of the five alleged participants have pleaded guilty and are expected to testify against him. Banks' attorney countered that his client had nothing to do with the murder, pointing instead to his assistant Kavon Grant, cousin of King Von, as the mastermind, and noting no evidence of payment has surfaced.

Co-defendants Deondre Wilson and David Lindsey likewise argued they were bystanders or entourage members rather than hitmen. The trial, expected to run three weeks, will include surveillance footage, text messages and Banks' own lyrics, which prosecutors plan to present as evidence of intent.

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