Lil Durk Murder-for-Hire Trial Nears Jury After Defense Calls 9 Witnesses in One Day

Lil Durk’s federal murder-for-hire trial is nearing jury deliberations after his defense called nine witnesses in a single day, attacking the testimony of key government cooperators before both sides rested their cases. Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court.

Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, is accused of orchestrating a plot to kill rival rapper Quando Rondo, born Tyquian Bowman, in retaliation for the 2020 killing of King Von, Banks’ close friend and fellow Only the Family artist. Prosecutors allege Banks placed a bounty on Bowman and financed the effort to kill him.

The alleged plot culminated in an August 2022 shooting at a gas station near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Bowman survived, but his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, was killed when gunmen opened fire on their vehicle.

Much of the government’s case has relied on former Banks associates who admitted their own involvement and later agreed to testify for prosecutors. The defense used its final day of testimony to challenge those accounts and argue that other members of Banks’ circle drove the plot.

Banks did not testify before the defense rested.

Among the defense witnesses was Lashawntay Hester, the wife of admitted gunman Kasey Hester, who disputed a key part of her husband’s testimony.

Kasey Hester told jurors that Anthony Jones called him shortly before the California trip and instructed him to get to the airport. Hester said he could hear Banks on another line directing the travel arrangements.

His wife told jurors she never heard the conversation her husband described. She said she did not hear Jones tell Hester that a ticket to California was waiting for him and did not hear Banks give any instructions.

Prosecutors challenged her during cross-examination over her reaction to her husband’s cooperation and questioned her about alleged gang affiliations within her family. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morse suggested she believed she was not supposed to testify against people connected to the case.

Hester rejected that characterization. She said she came forward after hearing her name had been raised during the trial and contacted the defense shortly before taking the stand because she wanted to dispute her husband’s testimony.

The defense also called Shekema Springfield, the mother of King Von’s son and a longtime U.S. Army service member.

Springfield testified that Kavon Grant, another major government witness, was extremely close to Von and managed his finances. She also said that after Von was killed, Grant told her not to worry about what had happened because he would handle it.

Asked about Grant’s truthfulness, Springfield called him a “liar and a thief.”

She also testified that she spent several days at the Georgia home where King Von’s family gathered after his death and never saw Banks there or heard discussions about retaliation. Grant had previously testified that Banks was present and discussed revenge with him.

Grant, Banks’ former personal assistant, told jurors that he helped arrange logistics surrounding the attack. He testified that after the shooting he drove the gunmen away, returned to Banks’ rented home in Encino and later saw Banks react positively after learning Robinson had been killed.

Banks’ sound engineer, Justin Gibson, provided another challenge to Grant’s account. Gibson testified that he was aboard a private flight on which Grant claimed Banks discussed targeting Bowman. Gibson said he did not hear that conversation and told jurors the aircraft was small enough that conversations would have been difficult to conceal.

Other defense testimony focused on the government’s portrayal of Banks’ actions before his 2024 arrest.

Kevin Freeman, who works with Banks through the rapper’s Neighborhood Heroes nonprofit, testified that he advised Banks to leave his home and “lay low” after federal agents began making arrests. Freeman said his concern was that Banks’ children could be traumatized if authorities raided the home.

The government has pointed to Banks’ movements around the time of his arrest as evidence that he was preparing to leave the country. FBI agents arrested him near Miami International Airport after authorities learned he had been booked on international flights.

An FBI agent who testified about the arrest acknowledged under cross-examination that agents did not find fake identification or passports in the vehicle carrying Banks.

Banks has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, stalking resulting in death and murder-for-hire charges. His attorneys contend Grant was the driving force behind the plot and sought revenge himself because of his close relationship with King Von.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday, after which jurors will begin deliberating whether prosecutors proved that Banks directed the alleged plot.