Rapper Lil Durk (real name Durk Banks) has been acquitted of all charges in a federal murder-for-hire trial in Los Angeles, after a jury deliberated for three days before delivering its not-guilty verdict on Friday, 11 September. He had faced murder-for-hire, stalking and conspiracy charges carrying a potential life sentence, over allegations that he ordered an attack on rival rapper Quando Rondo that instead killed Rondo's cousin, Saviay'a Robinson, in 2022. Despite the acquittal, Durk remains in custody because he still faces a separate racketeering charge alleging his OTF label operated as a violent gang, which the judge excluded from this trial; a second trial on that count is scheduled for 5 October.

Prosecutors alleged Durk directed his Only the Family crew to target Rondo in revenge for the 2020 killing of his friend and collaborator King Von, relying heavily on testimony from three cooperating witnesses who had pleaded guilty, and pointing to lyrics in Durk's songs as evidence of intent. Durk's defence, led by attorney Drew Findling, argued the witnesses were unreliable and that one of them, his former personal assistant, was the actual mastermind, while dismissing the lyrics as artistic expression. Two co-defendants, David Lindsey and Deandre Wilson, were convicted of stalking and conspiracy but also acquitted of murder-for-hire, and await sentencing. The case had drawn significant attention from the hip-hop community, with fans and fellow artists showing support outside the courthouse.