Federal prosecutors will be allowed to show jurors a piece of Hip Hop media they say helps explain the motive behind Lil Durk’s alleged murder-for-hire plot. It comes as an old DJ Akademiks interview where 6ix9ine and Wack 100 mocked the Chicago rapper for supposedly failing to retaliate after King Von’s death. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald admitted the clip Tuesday as Durk’s federal trial approaches jury selection, giving the government an opening to argue that public pressure surrounding Von’s killing affected Durk personally.
The footage comes from a 2021 episode of Akademiks’ Off the Record. During the conversation, 6ix9ine criticized Durk over the lack of apparent retaliation for Von, who had been killed the previous November. Prosecutors have said a witness is prepared to testify that Durk saw the discussion and was upset by the perception that nothing had been done in response. Durk’s attorneys disputed that premise during pretrial arguments, maintaining that their client had never seen the interview and challenging its relevance to a shooting that occurred roughly a year later. Fitzgerald nevertheless ruled that the excerpt, identified in court as Exhibit 170, can be presented to the jury.
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A Stacked Case Against Lil Durk
Akademiks appears elsewhere among the material cleared for trial. According to XXL, jurors may also see portions of an interview he conducted with Durk, as well as clips from Million Dollaz Worth of Game. The approved exhibits extend well beyond podcasts. Prosecutors can introduce music videos, text messages, and photographs obtained from Durk’s iCloud account. A 911 call from a witness to the August 2022 shooting has also been admitted, as has footage showing Quando Rondo’s reaction after the attack.
Prosecutors have built their case around retaliation for Von’s November 2020 killing. Federal authorities allege Durk placed a bounty on Quando Rondo, whose associate Timothy “Lul Tim” Leeks reportedly shot Von during a confrontation outside an Atlanta nightclub. The murder charge against Leeks was ultimately dropped. Moreover, prosecutors contend Durk later financed an effort to kill Quando in Los Angeles, where members and associates of Only The Family allegedly tracked him before opening fire at a gas station near the Beverly Center in August 2022. Quando survived, but his cousin Saviay’a Robinson was killed.
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Federal investigators say money connected to Durk and OTF paid for travel and accommodations associated with the alleged plot. The indictment further alleges that five men traveled from Chicago to California before the shooting and that a credit card bearing Durk’s name was used for a hotel room connected to the group. Prosecutors have also cited a message attributed to Durk instructing an associate not to book flights under names associated with him. Those allegations remain contested, and Durk has pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday, August 20, in Los Angeles federal court. Durk and his co-defendants face a statutory maximum of life in federal prison if convicted in the murder-for-hire case.
