What does acquitted mean? Details explored after jury delivers Lil Durk's final verdict in 2022 murder-for-hire case

Lil Durk has been acquitted of all charges in the murder-for-hire conspiracy case against Quando Rondo. The Grammy-winning rapper has been in custody since his arrest in October 2024.

In August 2022, a group of gunmen fired shots at Quando Rondo at the Escalade near the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles. Rondo, whose real name is Tyquian Terrel Bowman, survived the attack. However, his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, who was known as Lul Pab, died.

The prosecutors alleged that Lil Durk had conspired in the attack on Rondo and hired men to follow and kill the rapper. However, on Friday, September 11, the jury at the downtown LA courthouse acquitted him of all charges. According to Cambridge Dictionary, acquit means "to decide officially in a law court that someone is not guilty of a particular crime".

After the verdict, Lil Durk's attorney, Drew Findling, told the reporters (h/t NBC Los Angeles):

“Twenty-two months ago, Durk and I made an agreement that we would make history with the greatest verdict in this country, and it happened today. Durk is not guilty of all charges. The shackles must come off, and he must walk free so that he can come home to his beautiful family and to the world that loves him."

The rapper will stay in custody, though. He is set to undergo a federal trial for multiple racketeering and firearm charges, starting next month. These charges were separated from the aforementioned murder-for-hire conspiracy charges.

Meanwhile, in the Quando Rondo case, Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey, Durk's co-defendants, were found guilty on multiple charges. They include conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking using a dangerous weapon, and stalking resulting in death.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli releases statement after Lil Durk is acquitted in murder-for-hire case

After the verdict was delivered, some of Lil Durk's fans came outside the court to celebrate his acquittal. His high-profile case had also previously seen the likes of Machine Gun Kelly and Kanye West attend his trial.

After the verdict, Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney, released a statement. He expressed his disappointment at Durk's acquittal but thanked the jury for finding Wilson and Lindsey on multiple charges. He said:

“Today, the jury delivered justice to the family of Saviay’a Robinson, finding defendants Deandre Wilson and David Lindsey guilty of stalking resulting in Mr. Robinson’s death. While we are disappointed with the jury’s decision regarding Durk Banks, a.k.a. ‘Lil Durk,’ we look forward to presenting our evidence at his second trial.”

Meanwhile, Wilson's attorney Craig Harbaugh said:

“We thank the jury for seeing there was no murder for hire. We are confident the remaining counts will not survive our pending motion for acquittal.”

The charges against Lil Durk and his co-defendants came in 2024. The prosecution alleged that the rapper attacked Quando Rondo to exact revenge for the killing of King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Daquan Bennett.

On November 6, 2020, someone fatally shot King Von, who was part of Durk's Only The Family (OTF) collective. The person who shot the late rapper was allegedly part of Rondo's entourage. Durk's lawyers, however, claimed that his former assistant, Kavon Grant, conspired in the murder-for-hire attack after leaving the rapper.

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