Lil Durk Was Found Not Guilty of Murder for Hire. His Racketeering Murder Trial Is Still to Come.

On Friday, September 11, a federal jury in Los Angeles found Lil Durk not guilty on every count he was tried on over the August 2022 shooting that killed 24-year-old Saviay'a Robinson. The signed verdict form marks Durk Banks not guilty on all five: conspiracy to stalk Tyquian Bowman, the rapper known as Quando Rondo; stalking Bowman; stalking Robinson, Bowman's cousin; conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in a murder for hire resulting in death; and the murder-for-hire count itself.

So did Durk beat the case? He won this trial. He has not gone home. The court's September 11 minutes set trial for October 5 "on the remaining counts" and don't mark him released. AP and Courthouse News both report he stays in custody, where he has been since his arrest in October 2024. His lawyers are expected to push for his release before the second trial, Rolling Stone reported.

Why there are two trials

The split was Durk's own request. On July 14, Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald granted his motion to sever the counts, sending the stalking and murder-for-hire charges to trial first and holding the rest back for a second jury. The judge wrote that "the clarity of issues for the jurors in the 'Los Angeles trial' outweighs the inconvenience to the second set of jurors in the 'VICAR trial.'"

What's left is the racketeering case. The Fourth Superseding Indictment, filed July 31, charges Durk with murder in aid of racketeering, alleging Robinson was killed to gain standing in, and for pay from, what prosecutors call the "Banks Gang Enterprise," a subset of members and associates of Only the Family, the collective Durk formed around 2010. A second count charges firearms use in the shooting at a gas station on Beverly Boulevard and alleges a machine gun was among the guns. Those are allegations no jury has ruled on yet.

The two men tried with him got a split verdict. Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey were convicted of conspiracy to stalk and on both stalking counts, and acquitted of murder for hire, the minutes show. AP reports they were convicted of stalking resulting in death. Courthouse News reports they face up to life in prison.

What was said after

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement that prosecutors were disappointed in the verdict on Durk and look forward to presenting their evidence at the October 5 trial, Courthouse News and AP reported. Joshua Dorminy, a lawyer for Robinson's family, said the verdict doesn't resolve the family's civil claims, per Courthouse News. Defense lawyer Drew Findling said outside the courthouse that Durk should now be released, NBC Los Angeles reported. After the verdict, Durk's Instagram account posted: "Against all odds, we’re stronger together. Allah doesn’t make mistakes." It signed off: "Freedom. Freedom. Freedom."

The trial began August 20, and the jury got the case after closing arguments on Tuesday, September 8. The defense argued that Durk's former personal assistant, Kavon Grant, set up the plot; Grant testified for the government. On September 10 the jurors sent a note asking what "intent" means in "intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate," wording from the stalking charges. The next day they reached a unanimous verdict.

Still unknown: whether a judge will free Durk before the second trial, whether the October 5 date holds, whether Wilson and Lindsey will be tried with him again, and where Asa Houston, a fourth defendant who wasn't in the August trial, stands. Durk, who won a Grammy in 2024 for "All My Life," has been cleared of every charge the first jury heard. His prosecution isn't over.