Lil Durk Jury Zeroes In On “Intent” During Second Day Of Deliberations

Jurors deciding Lil Durk’s fate asked the judge to revisit the stalking rules and explain what “intent” means during their second day of deliberations.

The jury delivered two written notes at 9 A.M. Thursday, September 10, according to official court filings obtained by AllHipHop and courtroom reporting from Taylor Parise of Los Angeles Magazine.

Neither note indicated that jurors had reached a unanimous verdict.

The first message requested “verification/clarification” of a section covering nearly two pages of the jury instructions. The note identified Court’s Instruction No. 18, beginning on page 20 and continuing through page 21.

That instruction relates to the conspiracy-to-commit-stalking charge facing Durk “Lil Durk” Banks and his co-defendants, Deandre “DeDe” Wilson and David “Browneyez” Lindsey.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that Judge Michael Fitzgerald did not need to add new language. Fitzgerald brought jurors back into the courtroom and reread the existing instruction.

The second note focused on one specific word.

“The jury is asking for the definition of the word ‘intent’ in the context of ‘intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate,’” the foreperson wrote.

The jury directed Fitzgerald to lines eight and nine on page 31 of the instructions.

Once again, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that the judge should not provide an expanded definition. Parise reported that Fitzgerald told jurors the law supplies no separate meaning for “intent,” leaving them to apply the word as they normally understand it.

The questions provide the first clear look at what jurors are examining inside the deliberation room.

However, they do not show whether the panel is leaning toward conviction or acquittal. They also do not establish that jurors are deadlocked or have agreed on any charge.

The jury began deliberating Wednesday after hearing competing closing arguments in the Lil Durk murder-for-hire trial.

The five charges include conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking Quando Rondo with a dangerous weapon and stalking Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson, resulting in death.

The defendants also face conspiracy to use interstate facilities in a murder-for-hire resulting in Robinson’s death and using those facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death.

Prosecutors claim Lil Durk financed and directed an August 2022 operation targeting Tyquian “Quando Rondo” Bowman.

The government alleges the plot was retaliation for the November 2020 death of Dayvon “King Von” Bennett. King Von died following an Atlanta confrontation involving Quando Rondo’s group.

On August 19, 2022, two vehicles allegedly tracked Quando Rondo’s Escalade across Los Angeles. Gunmen later opened fire near the Beverly Center, killing Robinson while Quando Rondo survived.

Prosecutors presented surveillance footage, cellular records, GPS information, travel documents and financial records during the trial.

Kavon “OTF Vonni” Grant, Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester and Keith “Flacka” Jones also testified after admitting their involvement and reaching agreements with the government.

OTF Vonni claimed Lil Durk ordered the operation. He testified that he arranged travel, hotel rooms, vehicles, guns and ski masks for the alleged crew.

Prosecutors argued that Lil Durk’s money, leadership and dispute with Quando Rondo connected the pieces.

“He said he was going to do it, he sent his men to do it, and then he got on a podcast, and he said he did it,” a prosecutor argued during the government’s final presentation.

The defense says OTF Vonni, OTF Jam and Flacka blamed Lil Durk to improve their chances of receiving shorter prison sentences.

Lil Durk’s lawyers also argued that the FBI failed to question potential witnesses, presented only selected communications and never produced a clear record of a promised murder payment.

“There is no conspiracy. There is no stalking. There is no bounty,” defense attorney Drew Findling told jurors. “There is nothing.”

The jury’s questions now focus on whether prosecutors proved an agreement and the intent behind the defendants’ alleged actions.

That distinction matters because presence, association or knowledge of other people’s conduct does not automatically establish that someone joined a stalking conspiracy.

Jurors must decide what each defendant intended and whether that intent was connected to an agreement to kill, injure, harass or intimidate Quando Rondo.

Lil Durk, DeDe and Browneyez have pleaded not guilty. They remain presumed innocent unless the jury unanimously finds otherwise.

Parise reported that some people in the courtroom gallery speculated that a verdict might not arrive until Friday. That was only courtroom speculation. Jurors have supplied no timetable for completing their work.

Deliberations remain underway.