A federal jury has acquitted rapper Lil Durk of charges that he plotted to kill fellow rapper Quando Rondo, born Tyquian Bowman, in an alleged revenge scheme. Durk, whose real name is Durk Banks, had been in federal custody since his 2024 arrest on charges including conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit stalking, and stalking resulting in death. The case had drawn wider attention due to its use of the artist's song lyrics as evidence, a practice that free speech advocates and figures in the music industry have long criticised.

Prosecutors alleged Durk worked with associates from his Only the Family (OTF) collective to target Bowman in retaliation for the 2020 murder of Durk's friend King Von, but the case relied heavily on testimony from former co-defendants who had pleaded guilty. Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of who was responsible for a gas station shooting that killed Bowman's cousin instead of its intended target, with the defence arguing the prosecution's cooperators were motivated by avoiding lengthy sentences. Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald had permitted some of Durk's lyrics to be used as evidence of his state of mind following Von's death. Durk, who always denied the charges, remains in custody as he now awaits a separate trial on racketeering charges.