Lil Durk has been acquitted of attempted murder in a 2019 shooting in Atlanta, Georgia. On many news portals, speculation was already rampant that OTF with Lil Durk was the next rap collective after YSL that the RICO investigators wanted to target.
What happened in Atlanta...
In May of this year, Durk (real name Durk Banks) turned himself in to police after an arrest warrant was issued for him in connection with a February 2019 shooting outside The Varsity restaurant in Atlanta. Former Chicago rapper and OTF colleague King Von (who was killed in November 2020) was also investigated for attempted murder, aggravated assault, participation in criminal gang activity and possession of a firearm while committing a crime. Since Von had already been convicted of various crimes, he wasn't even allowed to own a gun.
Acquittal for Lil Durk
Last Saturday (October 22), the charges against Durk and the late Von were dropped due to "prosecutorial discretion," whatever that means, according to WSB-TV.
In a motion to dismiss the indictment issued by the Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia, District Attorney Fani T. Willis said:
"The facts of this case have been reviewed and while it appears that there was probable cause for the defendant's arrest, the district attorney's decision at this time is not to prosecute him."
Lil Durk's attorney, Manny Arora, celebrated the verdict by saying:
"While it took the state three years to make the right decision, in the end, the right decision was made and Mr. Banks (Lil Durk) can now handle this event finally leave behind. Lil Durk must now process this judgment in peace. Since 2019 he had the feeling that he had one leg in prison, which weighed heavily on him."
Durkio's war of nerves over
Shortly after the arrest warrant was issued, he made it clear how much the whole thing had got to the kidneys of the O-Block rapper, by processing his fears that he might soon have to bury his career. Shortly after his attorney notified him of the arrest warrant, the 7220 rapper released the song "Turn Myself In," in which he pleaded his innocence:
"Look up at the judge, can't look, surely making up lies / I'm certainly an innocent man, it sure is what it is."
He called the allegations "false" because he was not guilty of anything. The track appeared on Lil Durk's fifth album Just Cause Y'all Waited 2 , which was released in May 2020 and debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 - at the time the highest charting of his career.
We congratulate Durkio on his acquittal and look forward to hearing more from him in the future. Having to live with the fear of losing everything you build up in the blink of an eye for three years is certainly not easy. We are therefore curious to see what next moves the OTF boss is planning. As soon as there is something new to report, you will hear it from us first.
Source: KBE, hiphopdx.com, instagram.com/lildurk