Lil Durk Was Cleared of Murder. A Second Trial Starts Oct. 5.

Co-defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey were convicted of stalking counts, one of which carries a possible life sentence.

A federal jury found the rapper Lil Durk not guilty on every count in a Los Angeles murder-for-hire case. The verdict came Wednesday, September 9, 2026, after a trial that ran three weeks, LAmag reported. It doesn't end the case against him: prosecutors say he's due back for a second federal trial on October 5, 2026.

Two men tried alongside him didn't walk. Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey were convicted of conspiracy to commit stalking, of stalking Tyquian Bowman with a dangerous weapon, and of stalking Saviay'a Robinson resulting in death, LAmag reported. The outlet reported the first two counts carry roughly three to five years. The third carries a possible life sentence.

The case grew out of a shooting near the Beverly Center on August 19, 2022. Prosecutors alleged that Lil Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, financed and directed an attempt on the life of the rapper Quando Rondo, legally Tyquian Bowman. The motive, prosecutors said, was retaliation for the 2020 killing of Banks' friend Dayvon Bennett, the rapper King Von. The shot that was fired killed Bowman's cousin, Saviay'a "Lul Pab" Robinson.

Banks' lawyers, Brian Steel and Drew Findling, told jurors the plot belonged to Banks' former personal assistant, Kavon Grant. The government had gone after their client because of his fame, they argued — the "big fish," Steel said in closing, per the outlet's account of the arguments. The defense also pressed the jury on the government's cooperating witnesses, including one who has pleaded guilty to three killings, and on interviews with cooperators that weren't recorded.

Prosecutors leaned on travel records, on Grant's movements to and from Banks' home, and on a group chat tied to a number associated with Banks, LAmag reported. Twice the defense asked the court to put more of a podcast interview with Banks in front of the jury, arguing the government had used a spliced clip. Judge Fitzgerald denied both requests. The second denial came while the jury was already deliberating.

The panel had five questions in hand when deliberations began, as The LA Globe reported before the verdict.

Wilson and Lindsey were acquitted of the two murder-for-hire counts tied to Robinson's death, the outlet reported. Banks was emotional as the clerk read the verdict, LAmag reported, with family in the gallery and fans spilling out of the courtroom afterward.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said it isn't finished. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, in a statement quoted by the outlet, said the office was disappointed with the jury's decision on Banks. It looks forward to putting its evidence in front of the next jury, he said, at the October trial on racketeering murder and firearms charges.

That trial is scheduled for October 5, 2026.

Source: lamag.com, retrieved September 14, 2026.