Chicago rapper Lil Durk mounted a rapid-fire defense Thursday, calling nine people to the witness stand — including the wife of one of the government’s star witnesses — on the same day both sides rested their case in the closely watched murder-for-hire trial. The judge then ordered jurors to return Tuesday for closing arguments. Durk, born Durk Banks, is accused of ordering a murder-for-hire plot targeting rival rapper Quando Rondo as “revenge” for the 2020 killing of Banks’ close friend and musical protégé King Von.
Prosecutors say Banks placed a bounty on Quando Rondo, whose legal name is Tyquian Bowman, and that associates of his Only The Family, or OTF, collective opened fire on Bowman’s vehicle at a gas station near the Beverly Center on Aug. 19, 2022. Bowman survived, but his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, known as Lul Pab, was killed. The government’s case relies heavily on cooperating witnesses who have pleaded guilty and testified against Banks.
Kasey “OTF Jam” Hester, one of the prosecution’s key cooperators, took the stand last week and admitted he was among the gunmen who opened fire on Quando Rondo’s vehicle. Hester testified that the shooting came about six months after he was released from prison following an attempted murder conviction. He claimed that he was riding in a car with his wife when Anthony “OTF Boonie Mo” Jones called and told him to head for the airport for an urgent trip to California.
Hester said he took the call on speakerphone and could hear Banks on a separate call in the background, directing the travel. On Thursday, Hester’s wife, Lashanta Hester, took the witness stand for the defense and disputed her husband’s account. Asked whether she ever heard Banks tell her husband to travel to California, Hester, a mother of three who shares two children with her husband, said no.
Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century Under cross-examination, Hester was asked whether members of her family belonged to gangs. She declined to answer or said she wasn’t aware. Attorney Michael Morse then suggested she held the view that, “You’re not supposed to testify.” “I’m testifying for myself because my name was brought up,” she replied.
Hester later confirmed that she contacted the defense within the past week to dispute her husband’s testimony. Banks’ defense also called Shekema Springfield to the witness stand. Army officer previously dated and lived with King Von, and the two welcomed a son together a few months after their relationship ended in 2019, about a year before his death.
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