RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The first week of Lil Durk ’s murder-for-hire trial featured text messages, an unreleased music video and key testimony from a former member of the Chicago rapper’s Only the Family (OTF) crew.
You’re reading Billboard ’s weekly Lil Durk trial recap, a one-sheet breakdown of everything that happened in the murder-for-hire case over the past week. Stay tuned here each Friday for all the testimony and big events you might have missed.
The trial began Monday (Aug. 24) in Los Angeles federal court, where the “All My Life” hitmaker (Durk Banks) is charged with ordering OTF members to kill rival rapper Quando Rondo in retaliation for the 2020 killing of his close friend and collaborator King Von. Rondo was shot at a Los Angeles gas station in 2022 and survived, but another man known as Lul Pab was killed in the crossfire.
During opening statements, prosecutor Daniel Weiner argued that Durk was “consumed with revenge” after Von’s death. Weiner said Durk arranged for numerous OTF associates to travel from Chicago to L.A. and “track, stalk, hunt and kill” Rondo while he waited for updates in a nearby rental house. Two alleged participants in the killing, David “Browneyez” Lindsey and Deandre “OTF Dede” Wilson, are also on trial.
Defense lawyer Marissa Goldberg responded in her own opening statement that the rapper had “nothing to do with” the shooting, arguing that there isn’t any evidence showing he paid for a hit on Rondo. Goldberg said the real mastermind of the plot was Kavon “Vonnie” Grant, one of the shooters who has flipped and become a government witness.
“He thought, ‘Oh man, I’ve got an insurance policy,’” said Goldberg of Vonnie’s decision to point the finger at Durk. “I’ve got a big fish I can give them.”
After openings, the first two days of Durk’s trial focused largely on hard evidence. Surveillance video was played on Tuesday (Aug. 25) from an In-N-Out Burger restaurant, where the shooters allegedly stopped for a bite after killing Pab. A detective who reviewed the tape testified that the men seemed to be “joking around” and “having a good time,” according to Los Angeles Magazine .
Also on Tuesday, prosecutors showed numerous text messages sent by Durk after Von’s 2020 death. This included messages where Durk wrote, “I gotta go all out for him,” “I can’t let this slide” and “him dying turning me a different animal.”
On Wednesday (Aug. 26), the jurors heard the first of what is expected to be multiple Durk songs admitted as evidence of Durk’s alleged motive. The prosecution played an unreleased 2021 music video for the song “Redman,” which depicts Durk reading news stories about Von’s death and then shooting a man that prosecutors describe as a Rondo “look-alike.”
Durk’s lawyers maintain that his music should not be taken literally, but instead ought to be viewed as a performance in which he’s “challenging his emotions through his artwork.” Durk attorney Brian Steel drilled down on this argument while cross-examining an FBI agent about the “Redman” video on Wednesday, per Rolling Stone .
“You know that Durk is a musical artist, a poet, true?” Steel asked the agent.
The real fireworks began later on Wednesday when the first of multiple cooperating witnesses took the stand: Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester, a Chicago gang member and former friend of Durk’s who has admitted to being one of the shooters who targeted Rondo.
According to Courthouse News Service , Jam said during direct testimony on Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 27) that he regretted participating in the murder of an “innocent” man. He told the jury, “I wasn’t feeling good about it at all. I felt it was sloppy.”
Jam testified Thursday that Durk offered a hefty cash reward for the shooting. While this promised sum was never paid, he allegedly received $10,000 to record a track with Durk. After being arrested in 2023 on separate gun charges, he wrote in a note to police, “I know about murders.”
“I had to get it off my chest,” said Jam of his decision to become a government informant. “It was weighing on me.”
Steel aggressively cross-examined Jam on Thursday and Friday (Aug. 28), pointing out that his story had “dramatically” changed over time. Steel suggested that Jam, who has been in and out of prison for much of his life, is lying about Durk’s involvement because he wants a reduced sentence.
“Going home, that’s your mission?” Steel asked the witness, per Rolling Stone .
“Me, trying to go home? Yes,” Jam replied.
The trial is set to resume Monday and run for several more weeks. It has already drawn some notable spectators , including Ye (formerly Kanye West) and mgk.
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