On Monday (Aug. 24), Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire criminal trial started in federal court, and the opening arguments presented dueling narratives of the Chicago rapper.
Opening arguments were presented by both the defense and prosecutors, with Lil Durk’s coming from one of his attorneys, Marissa Goldberg. In her opening, Goldberg said that Durk is an innocent man who is falsely being portrayed as the architect of the murder-for-hire plot against fellow rapper Quando Rondo in retaliation for the 2020 killing of King Von, who was signed to Durk’s label, Only the Family. Quando Rondo is believed to be the target in a 2022 shooting that took the life of his cousin, Saviay’a ‘Lul Pab’ Robinson.
Five associates from Only The Family were arrested alongside Lil Durk in 2024, including Deandre Wilson and Kavon Grant. Grant, who has already pleaded guilty and will be testifying at the trial, is the one who Goldberg said was “in charge” of the murder-for-hire plot. She argued that Grant concluded that he could only avoid prison time if he could “minimize his own involvement” in the shooting and falsely serve up Durk as the “big fish.”
“They were pressing him about a big fish, and he thought, ‘Oh man…I’ve got an insurance policy,’” Goldberg said per Rolling Stone, noting that Grant worked at Lil Durk’s music management company, Astronaut Doundz, and had access to a company credit card that was linked to the shooting through travel arrangements. “Mr. Banks had nothing to do with it. He was not there. He had nothing to do with it.” She said that Grant purchased plane tickets, accommodation, black ski masks, and vehicles traced to the shooting.
The 33-year-old rapper has pleaded not guilty to the five charges he’s facing, which include conspiracy and murder-for-hire. Prosecutors alleged that Durk and others used “coded language” to discuss plans to kill Quando Rondo, real name Tyquian Terrel Bowman, for what Only the Family perceived as his involvement in the fatal shooting of King Von.
Prosecutors claimed that men involved in the planned hit stalked Quando Rondo in Los Angeles, later ambushing him at a gas station and firing at least 18 rounds at him, fatally shooting his cousin instead.
Goldberg argued that Grant, who she called an “international criminal,” had a “personal vendetta” against Rondo because his father “went back decades” with King Von’s father. Instead of responding with violence, Goldberg said that Lil Durk “channeled” his feelings regarding Von’s murder into “his artwork.” Prosecutors, for their part, accused Banks of being the one in charge of the shooting.
In addition to her claims about the Los Angeles incident, Goldberg accused Grant of orchestrating a 2021 attack on Rondo in Blackshear, Georgia — one that she said used the “same playbook” as the Los Angeles shooting.
Co-defendant Deandre Wilson’s lawyer described his client as a “passenger” in the plot, and Grant as a "perpetrator."
