Lil Durk will now have to wait a while longer to get his day in court, as the rapper’s murder-for-hire trial has been pushed to late 2025.
Originally set to begin on January 7, Legal Affairs & Trials reporter Meghann Cuniff obtained documents on New Year’s Eve (December 31) that revealed the trial will now begin on October 14.
A “complex” case is cited among the reasons for the push, which includes “approximately 230 GB of digital evidence” that prosecutors have to go through, “such as audio/video recordings and surveillance footage, and approximately 20,000 pages of reports concerning murder and other violent acts, photographs, witness statements, and medical documents.”
Cuniff also reports that one of Durk’s codefendants, Asa “Boogie” Houston, has pushed back against the trial delay, while another one of his codefendants, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, may be considering a plea deal.
Rapper Lil Durk is looking at a new trial date of October 14 in his murder-for-hire case in Los Angeles, according to a stipulation today from federal prosecutors and the defense. pic.twitter.com/XtMjADEOPd
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) December 31, 2024
Durk’s codefendant Asa “Boogie” Houston opposes the trial continuance.
Full document: https://t.co/CG4atLreNSpic.twitter.com/TFcAOAUXlN
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) December 31, 2024
Last month, a brief gave some insight on why Lil Durk has been denied bond as he awaits his trial – and it includes prosecutors arguing that he has a pattern of “criminal behavior and interference.” More notable, however, is they also state that he hasn’t been following the rules at Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Los Angeles.
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“Despite clear instructions to not engage in three-way calls, defendant repeatedly abused the phone system at MDC to engage in such conduct,” the brief reads.
At a hearing days earlier, the judge sided with the prosecution and denied Durk’s request for bond.
In addition to the aforementioned details, prosecutors also presented information that linked Durk to the killing of an alleged Chicago gang leader. This is separate for the alleged murder-for-hire he’s currently behind bars for.
Newly unsealed court documents claim the rapper (real name Durk Banks) funded the January 2022 shooting death of Stephon Mack, the alleged leader of the Smashville faction of the Gangster Disciples.
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The killing is believed to have been payback for the murder of Durk’s brother Dontay “DThang” Banks, who was shot to death outside a nightclub in Harvey, Illinois in 2021.
“Lil Durk was and still is offering money for people to kill those responsible for his brother’s murder, and more specifically, offering to pay money for any Gangster Disciple that is killed,” a federal agent wrote in the filing, which was submitted in April 2023 but unsealed on December 11.
Durk has not been charged in connection with Mack’s murder, although police sources told the Chicago Tribune that an investigation is still ongoing.
