Lil Durk murder-for-hire trial opens in Los Angeles

The federal murder-for-hire trial of Grammy-winning rapper Lil Durk began on Monday, August 24, 2026, in a Los Angeles courtroom, with prosecutors and defense attorneys presenting starkly different narratives about a 2022 shooting that left one man dead. The central question for the jury is whether the artist, born Durk Banks, orchestrated the attack as revenge for the killing of his friend, or whether he was wrongly implicated by a former associate. Prosecutors allege that Banks, 33, used his wealth and influence to fund a plot to kill rival rapper Quando Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Bowman. The government contends the motive was retaliation for the 2020 killing of rapper King Von, a close friend and collaborator of Banks. According to the prosecution, on a Friday afternoon in August 2022, a group of men tracked Bowman and his entourage through Los Angeles. At a gas station near the Beverly Center, masked gunmen opened fire on Bowman's vehicle. Bowman survived, but his 24-year-old cousin, Saviaya Lul Pab Robinson, was struck by multiple bullets and died shortly after. Assistant U.S.