The Record

King Von is killed in Atlanta — the death that prosecutors say started everything. Dayvon Bennett, the rapper King Von and one of Lil Durk's closest OTF collaborators, was shot outside the Monaco Hookah Lounge on Trinity Avenue after two groups brawled in the parking lot. Rapper Quando Rondo was present but investigators say he never fired a shot and was never a suspect. Timothy 'Lul Tim' Leeks was arrested and charged with felony murder; the case was never presented to a grand jury and was formally dismissed on August 20, 2023, after prosecutors concluded there was not enough evidence to overcome a self-defense claim. No one has ever been convicted of killing King Von — a fact the defense is expected to lean on, and the government says is exactly why a bounty was offered instead. — LegalClarity — Quando Rondo and King Von: shooting, charges, lawsuits · Complex — Charges against Lul Tim dropped

The shooting. Around 5:30 p.m., at a gas station on Beverly Boulevard near the Beverly Center in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles, gunmen fired at least 18 rounds into a black Cadillac Escalade. Prosecutors say the target was Quando Rondo — legal name Tyquian Bowman — and that the shooters had followed him from a dispensary and a clothing store, tracked on traffic cameras, in two rental cars fitted with fake license plates. Rondo survived. His cousin Saviay'a Robinson, known as Lul Pab, was killed. The government's account: five men flew from Chicago the day before after learning Rondo was staying at a Los Angeles hotel, bought the plane tickets and rented a white BMW and a white Infiniti on OTF-affiliated credit cards, bought four ski masks, met at a restaurant afterward to discuss payment, and flew home on the same card. Three shooters were captured on surveillance before fleeing down an alley. — U.S. Department of Justice — Superseding indictment · XXL — A detailed look at how five men allegedly conspired · MyNewsLA — Jury selection underway

The alleged rejected truce. In a trial memorandum filed days before jury selection, prosecutors said that in December 2022 — months after the shooting — an associate of Quando Rondo reached out to try to 'squash' the feud, and that Banks refused in a voice message, saying he would not settle it because the matter involved his late brother DThang and King Von. The government offers this as evidence that the retaliation motive was still alive long after Robinson's death. The defense has signalled it will argue a voice memo proves nothing about who ordered a shooting four months earlier. The exact date within December 2022 has not been reported. — The Source — Feds claim Durk rejected a peace offering · DancehallMag — Feds claim Durk rejected peace offering

Arrest at a Miami airport. Federal agents arrested Durk Banks, then 32, late on a Thursday night near a Miami airport. Prosecutors said he was preparing to board a private jet to Italy. The criminal complaint charged him with conspiring to use interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and quoted a message they attribute to him directing an associate: 'Don't book no flights under no names involved wit [sic] me.' U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in the announcement: 'Violent gun crime of this sort is devastating to our community.' FBI Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis said: 'The apprehension of Mr. Banks as he attempted to leave the United States is once again proof that the FBI and our extraordinary partners at the Los Angeles Police Department have a long reach.' The airport is described as Miami International in the Justice Department release and as Miami Executive in some later reporting. — U.S. Department of Justice — Arrest announcement (Oct. 25, 2024) · Block Club Chicago — Arrested before flying to Italy

Six defendants indicted. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned a superseding indictment naming Banks and five others: Kavon London Grant, 28 ('Cuz,' 'Vonnie'); Deandre Dontrell Wilson, 33 ('DeDe'); Keith Jones, 33 ('Flacka'), of Gary, Indiana; David Brian Lindsey, 33 ('Browneyez'), of Addison, Illinois; and Asa Houston, 36 ('Boogie'). The charges were conspiracy, use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and using, carrying and discharging firearms and a machine gun in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death. The indictment describes Only the Family, which Banks founded in 2010, as both a hip-hop enterprise and a group whose members 'regularly engaged in violence, including murder and assault, at Banks' direction,' and alleges Banks 'put a bounty' on the target's life after King Von's death. Banks pleaded not guilty. — U.S. Department of Justice — Superseding indictment · Newsweek — Who are Lil Durk's co-defendants · ABC7 Los Angeles — Lil Durk pleads not guilty

First bail denial. A judge rejected a roughly $3 million bond package. Prosecutors argued in part that Banks had used the phone accounts of 13 other inmates while in custody — a detention-facility rule violation the government used to argue he does not follow rules. His lawyers said they would appeal. — Rolling Stone — Denied bail, accused of using phone accounts of 13 other inmates

Bail refused again — and a prosecutor draws the line on lyrics. U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue denied reconsideration after about 40 minutes of argument, saying the alleged phone violations showed 'a disrespect for the rules' and expressing doubt that a private security company hired by the defendant could be trusted to enforce a court's orders. At the same hearing, lead prosecutor Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello made the government's position on the music explicit: 'This murder case is not about defendant's lyrics, and it's not about his music. It's about his conduct.' That sentence is worth remembering — 15 months later the government would ask to play a music video for the jury. — Legal Affairs and Trials (Meghann Cuniff) — Judge rejects new bail request

The death penalty is off the table. The Justice Department notified the court it would not seek capital punishment. Because 18 U.S.C. § 1958 makes murder-for-hire 'resulting in death' punishable by death or life imprisonment, the decision left life without parole as the maximum — and, according to the judge, the mandatory sentence on a full conviction. — ABC7 Chicago — Lil Durk will not face death penalty · 18 U.S.C. § 1958

Judge Fitzgerald refuses a $4.5 million bail package, and explains the arithmetic of flight. The defense offered up to $4.5 million plus home detention monitored by private security. The judge said no, in language that has framed the case ever since: 'The sentence is mandatory life in prison without parole, which would make any innocent defendant consider flight.' He found that no set of conditions would work without effectively impoverishing Banks and stripping him of his intellectual property, since a wealthy artist can generate income from anywhere in the world. Prosecutors also argued Banks had booked multiple international flights and had been arrested near an airport. — Courthouse News Service — Rapper Lil Durk won't get out on bail

Defense moves to throw the case out over undisclosed death threats. Banks's lawyers asked the court to dismiss the indictment after learning that Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue had received four voicemails on February 22, 2025 containing explicit death threats and sounds mimicking gunfire, and that Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello received a call on April 28, 2025 threatening to kill him and courthouse staff. The callers invoked the names of Banks and co-defendant Deandre Wilson. The defense argued the secret handling of those threats 'irreparably compromised the structural integrity of these proceedings,' writing: 'To state the obvious, Judge Donahue was in no position to consider whether Mr. Banks was too dangerous to be released while having been both personally threatened by someone purporting to act on Mr. Banks' behalf...' There is no allegation that Banks made or directed the threats. — Chicago Sun-Times — Durk wants case tossed after death threats go unreported · NBC Chicago — Durk wants murder-for-hire case tossed

Motion to dismiss denied, bluntly. Judge Fitzgerald rejected the dismissal motion and the associated requests to disqualify the prosecutor and recuse every judge in the district: 'There is just absolutely no basis for this motion. Just none. Absolutely none.' Prosecutors said the defense had been told about the threats in October. The detention order stood. — The Source — Judge rejects bid to toss charges

First lyrics ruling: the flight bars are out. Prosecutors wanted lyrics from 'Hanging With Wolves' in which Banks raps about hopping on a flight with a warrant out — offered to support their theory that he intended to flee, which lawyers call 'consciousness of guilt.' Judge Fitzgerald excluded them, saying particular lyrics offered to show an intention to flee 'will be excluded because they really are just sheer propensity.' 'Propensity' is the forbidden reasoning that Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) blocks: proving that someone is the kind of person who would do a thing, rather than proving they did this thing. The defense had asked him to exclude all 12 songs prosecutors proposed, calling the lyrics hyperbolic artistic expression carrying an 'extraordinary risk' of jury misunderstanding. — Rolling Stone — Judge bans some Lil Durk lyrics as evidence

The line gets drawn, song by song. Ruling on 13 proposed lyric excerpts, Judge Fitzgerald let four in, barred five outright and held four for further explanation. 'Who Want Smoke?? (Remix)' with Nardo Wick and 'Ahhh Ha' came in: 'The court agrees that these lyrics are relevant for the stated purpose of showing motive. The discussion of violence in conjunction with getting revenge for "Von" makes the evidence more probative than prejudicial in this instance.' The 2023 song 'Beverly Hills' was thrown out: 'There is no inference that the lyrics here are "autobiographical" of the events involved in these charges — indeed, as Banks points out, there is virtually no evidence of the timing of when these lyrics were written or even recorded.' Read together, the two rulings state the operating rule of this trial: lyrics that name the feud and the revenge motive are motive evidence; lyrics that merely show a rapper rapping about violence are character evidence, and character evidence is not allowed. — Billboard — Here are the Lil Durk lyrics that will play in court · The Root — Why Durk's music will play a huge role

Prosecutors add racketeering counts weeks before trial. A third superseding indictment added charges including murder in aid of racketeering, tied to a January 2022 killing in Chicago and an alleged February 2019 attempted murder in Atlanta — allegations that had nothing to do with the Los Angeles shooting. The exact filing date within early June has not been reported. — Rolling Stone — Case adds racketeering count linked to Chicago murder · Complex — Durk wins motion to exclude racketeering charges

The judge cuts the case in half — and laughs at the government. At a hearing in downtown Los Angeles, Judge Fitzgerald granted the defense motion to sever the late-added racketeering counts, sending them to a separate trial. He pressed prosecutors repeatedly to explain how two trials would actually harm them, laughed at parts of their answer, and said twice: 'The question isn't what I have to do, it's what I want to do.' His written order noted that the government itself 'chose to withdraw evidence of the "Chicago incident" in the Los Angeles trial,' undercutting its own claim of prejudice, and found that keeping the issues clean for the Los Angeles jury outweighed the cost of seating a second jury later. Four counts, all tied to the killing of Saviay'a Robinson, remained for the August trial. In the same ruling he denied co-defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey's request to be tried separately from Banks. Defense attorney Drew Findling, outside court: 'We are very happy with the court's order.' Also present for the defense: Brian Steel and Christy O'Connor. — LA Magazine — Judge grills feds in Lil Durk case · AllHipHop — August trial moves forward without Chicago killing charges · Complex — Durk wins motion to exclude racketeering charges

Prosecutors ask to play a music video for the jury. The government moved to introduce the 2021 song 'Pissed Me Off' and its music video, quoting bars including 'Boy, no cap, I got killers that I love and they don't rap' and 'If I die, just don't lie, man, you ni**as better slide,' and pointing to footage of Banks holding stacks of cash and making a hand gesture imitating gunfire. Their theory: the song shows his willingness and ability to fund retaliation for King Von's death. The defense answered that rap lyrics and music videos are creative works, not literal admissions of criminal conduct, and should not be handed to jurors as evidence. — XXL — Prosecutors want to play Durk's music video at trial · LA Magazine — Feds want 'Pissed Me Off' video played for jury

A fourth superseding indictment — seven counts, no new accusations. Prosecutors split one stalking count into two: interstate stalking of Quando Rondo using a dangerous weapon, and interstate stalking resulting in the death of Saviay'a Robinson. The government's stated reason was technical — each alleged victim should be charged separately — and the revision added no new allegations. It raised the count total from six to seven, of which four were set for this trial after the July severance. An earlier superseding indictment had already quietly deleted the government's claim that Banks's lyrics referenced the August 2022 murder, after the defense pointed out the lyrics predated the killing; his lawyers called that claim 'baseless.' — XXL — Durk faces fourth superseding indictment weeks before trial · HotNewHipHop — Fourth superseding indictment · Chicago Tribune via Yahoo — New indictment drops allegation linking lyrics to slaying

Final motions hearing. Judge Fitzgerald heard argument on the outstanding evidence disputes a week before jury selection, including the government's request to play the 'Pissed Me Off' video. Defense attorney Marissa Goldberg argued prosecutors had misread the song, which she said memorializes Banks's dead — including his brother — and that stripping it of that context risked treating artistic expression as a literal confession. She also warned the song could indirectly expose jurors to the racketeering allegations the judge had just severed. — Law Commentary — Durk's music can be used as evidence · The Source — Lyrics take center stage as trial nears

The ruling that defines the trial: the 'Pissed Me Off' video goes to the jury. Judge Fitzgerald ruled that the 2021 song and its music video are admissible, rejecting the defense's prejudice arguments while leaving the door open to a 'limiting instruction' — a direction telling jurors the narrow purpose for which they may consider a piece of evidence and forbidding them to use it for anything else. He noted the defense could attack the government's reading of the lyrics through cross-examination. Prosecutors had argued the song establishes motive to retaliate for King Von's November 2020 death, pointing to lines about spending money on guns, cars and bonds alongside references to Von. On the same day the judge also refused to suppress the forensic extraction of Banks's cellphone, finding it significant that the FBI was not involved in the original seizure or the years of state custody that followed. — The Source — 'Pissed Me Off' can be used as evidence · Rolling Stone — Judge rules 'Pissed Me Off' video can be used as evidence · Law Commentary — Durk's music can be used as evidence · MiixtapeChiick — Trial evidence rulings

The rest of the exhibit list. In a broader ruling on the government's proposed exhibits, the judge admitted two more tracks, 'Back Again' and 'Still Runnin',' and cleared a YouTube clip of Tekashi 6ix9ine discussing King Von in a 2021 DJ Akademiks interview — prosecutors argued it contributed to public pressure on Banks to retaliate; the defense said Banks never saw it. Excluded: a video allegedly filmed during a podcast session showing multiple people with firearms, screenshots from co-defendant Deandre Wilson's music video, and certain messages about guns. — MiixtapeChiick — Trial evidence rulings · OnSite Global Media — Durk's own song will be evidence at his federal trial

Final pretrial conference. The judge ruled on co-conspirator statements — out-of-court statements by alleged partners in a conspiracy, which are treated as not hearsay and can be used against everyone in the alleged agreement — and limited the government's gang expert, barring Detective Kevin Kilroy from offering opinions on which defendants belonged to which gangs, citing the Confrontation Clause, the constitutional right to cross-examine the people whose accusations are used against you. Prosecutors also filed a trial memorandum describing the December 2022 voice message in which they say Banks refused to end the feud, and separately asked to keep the witness list under seal, saying witnesses and their relatives had been threatened. They expect to call about 35 witnesses, roughly 20 of them substantive, over 11 to 13 days. — MiixtapeChiick — Trial evidence rulings · 24Hip-Hop — Prosecutors move to keep witness list under seal · The Source — Feds claim Durk rejected a peace offering · iHeart / Power 105.1 — Durk may face witnesses who've signed plea deals

Jury selection, day one. Court convened at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Los Angeles with a pool of about 80 prospective jurors, working toward a panel of 12 plus four alternates. The questioning turned quickly to the thing everyone knew it would: rap. One woman said the music suggests 'violence' to her. Another said the genre 'could impact her ability to be impartial about the defendants.' A male candidate volunteered that rap carried 'negative connotations, at least in my mind.' The court also kept Banks's potential defense witnesses in the jury questionnaire over prosecution objections. Three defendants are on trial together: Banks, Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey. All three have pleaded not guilty. — MyNewsLA — Jury selection underway · MyNewsLA — Jury selection to resume Friday · LA Magazine — Trial underway · MiixtapeChiick — Federal trial to proceed with three defendants

The jury is seated. Questioning resumed at 8:30 a.m. and by the end of Friday a panel of 16 — 12 jurors and four alternates — had been chosen. A defense lawyer asked prospective jurors how they would react to music 'that's not Peter, Paul and Mary or Karen Carpenter' with lyrics that are hard to make out; one juror answered, 'I would like subtitles or captions.' Another candidate said she was 'not in the courtroom to judge whether rap is good or bad.' Opening statements were set for Monday, August 24. The court told jurors to plan for three weeks or more. — KESQ / City News Service — Opening statements expected Monday · MyNewsLA — Opening statements expected Monday · AllHipHop — Jury selection resumes as 16-person panel takes shape