Lil Durk and his codefendants’ fates are now in the hands of the jury following closing arguments in his murder-for-hire trial, where the cooperating witnesses were called rats by the defense.
On Tuesday (Sept. 8), Day 11 of the Chicago rapper’s highly publicized trial concluded in Los Angeles federal court. The day started off with a spectacle outside the courthouse where several Lil Durk fans—some of whom may have been paid actors—protested with signs in support of the rapper. Inside the courtroom, both sides made their final statements.
“The facts of the case are not complex,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Yanniello told the jury, according to journalist Michael Blackshire, who is covering the trial. “Banks used his money, power, and fame to try and kill his biggest opp.”
In reference to the attempted hit on Quando Rondo at a Los Angeles gas station, which left his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson (aka Lul Pab) dead, Yanniello blamed the victim’s murder on OTF members who “went straight to hunting their victims from the second they arrived [in L.A.].”
“[Robinson] had no idea when he [woke] up that morning that the defendants [OTF members] had already determined his fate,” he added, according to Los Angeles Magazine reporter Taylor Parise, who is also covering the trial.
Yanniello described Durk as the leader of OTF and its violent members who wanted to his “get back…body for a body. Blood for blood.”
Of co-defendant Deandre “OTF Dede” Wilson, Yanniello accused him of hiring David “Browneyez” Lindsey and Keith “Flacka” Jones to carry out the deadly murder.
“This case is not about rap. It’s not about celebrity. It’s about Saviay’a Robinson,” Yanniello said. “They are guilty on all counts.”
Meanwhile, famed defense attorney Brian Steel, during his closing argument, made a point of discrediting the men testifying against Durk, Lindsey and Wilson. Steel told the jury that Kevon “OTF Vonnie” Grant, Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester and Keith Jones “are snitches, corroborators and rats” that should not be trusted.
Fellow defense attorney Drew Findling concluded the team’s closing argument, discrediting the FBI and the LAPD, and called Grant the “mastermind” of the Robinson murder and accused him of manipulating investigators and the prosecution.
According to Parise, Findling said Durk was a person who stood by those he grew up with in Chicago…and should be commended rather than condemned.
“He is a lyricist. He is blessed from above,” he reportedly told the jury. “He’s the Voice. The Voice that has the ability to express what other people think.”
Lil Durk, David Lindsey and DeAndre Wilson, who have been charged with stalking Quando Rondo and killing the rapper’s cousin in August of 2022, face life in prison if found guilty.
Read Journalist Michael Blackshire’s Recap of the Prosecution and Defense Teams’ Closing Arguments at the Lil Durk Trial
Read Journalist Taylor Parise’s Recap of the Prosecution and Defense Teams’ Closing Arguments at the Lil Durk Trial
Watch Trap Lore Ross’ Report on the Prosecution and Defense Teams’ Closing Arguments
See the Current Status of Every Murdered Rapper’s Case
XXL takes a look at the current status of the cases of hip-hop murders that have occurred over the past 39 years.
