Jury selection underway for Lil Durk murder-for-hire trial

Jury selection begins Thursday, August 20, in Los Angeles federal court for the murder-for-hire trial of Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk, who is accused of ordering a deadly ambush on a rival. The case centers on whether the artist, born Durk Banks, financed a plot to kill fellow rapper Tyquian Bowman, known as Quando Rondo, in 2022, leading to the death of Bowman’s cousin.

Federal prosecutors allege that Banks, 33, sought retaliation for the 2022 killing of his close friend and collaborator, Dayvon "King Von" Bennett, at an Atlanta nightclub. According to court documents, around August 18, 2022, members of Banks' Chicago-based collective, Only the Family, or OTF, learned Bowman was at a Los Angeles hotel. The next day, prosecutors say, five associates traveled from Chicago to kill him.

The alleged co-conspirators used two vehicles to track Bowman to a gas station on Beverly Boulevard, near the Beverly Center mall, on August 19, 2022. There, they fired at least 18 rounds into his vehicle, killing Bowman’s cousin, who was known as Lul Pab. Bowman survived the shooting.

Banks was arrested on October 17, 2024, near Miami International Airport as he attempted to flee the country,...