Machine Gun Kelly showing up to a federal murder-for-hire trial is not something you see every day. A source inside the courtroom confirmed MGK’s presence to AllHipHop on Monday as Lil Durk’s trial officially got underway in Los Angeles, with jurors hearing two very different versions of what happened in the summer of 2022.
The government’s opening shot was direct. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Weiner told jurors Durk became “consumed with revenge” after his close friend King Von was killed in Atlanta in November 2020, framing the whole case around a retaliatory plan to “stalk, hunt and kill” Quando Rondo. “This case is not about music, it’s about murder,” Weiner said.
Durk’s defense attorney Marissa Goldberg pushed back hard. She pointed the finger at Kavon “Cuz” Grant, Durk’s former personal assistant who is now cooperating with federal prosecutors, telling jurors there is “no evidence against” her client and that Durk “had nothing to do with it.”
Goldberg also took aim at the prosecution’s plan to use Durk’s music as evidence, telling the jury his songs are “art” and that making them “is what he does for a living.”
That fight over lyrics in the courtroom has become a recurring tension in rap cases, and this one looks like it will be no different.
Prosecutors allege that on August 18, 2022, five men flew from Chicago to Los Angeles after associates learned Quando Rondo was in the city.
According to investigators, the group tracked the rapper across Los Angeles before gunmen opened fire near the Beverly Center, letting off more than a dozen shots.
Quando Rondo survived, but his cousin Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson was killed in the attack. Prosecutors say Robinson was not the intended target, which is central to the murder-for-hire charge Durk now faces.
The financial trail is where prosecutors say they have Durk most directly tied to the operation. They allege OTF-linked funds covered flights and hotel stays, and that a credit card connected to Durk was used during the attack. They also cite a message sent from Durk’s phone telling an associate, “Don’t book no flights under no names involved wit me.”
Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which include murder-for-hire resulting in death, stalking-related counts, and a firearms charge. If convicted on every count, he faces a mandatory life sentence.
The trial is being heard separately from later racketeering allegations after Judge Michael Fitzgerald ordered those charges to be tried on their own.
That means jurors right now are focused entirely on the Los Angeles shooting, Durk’s alleged financial role, and whether cooperating witnesses can place him at the center of the plan.
MGK’s presence adds a different kind of texture to the story. The two have a real public history, including a 2023 Amazon Music Live show where MGK joined Durk onstage and played electric guitar during “The Voice.” Sitting in a federal courtroom is a different kind of solidarity, and it has not gone unnoticed.
Prosecutors are expected to begin calling witnesses now that opening statements are done, with the trial projected to run for at least three weeks.
