The courtroom battle is over now Lil Durk’s fate rests in the hands of the jury.

Closing arguments have concluded in the Chicago rapper’s closely watched federal murder-for-hire trial in Los Angeles, bringing weeks of testimony, allegations and fierce legal arguments to their most critical stage: jury deliberations.

Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Banks, has pleaded not guilty to five federal counts stemming from the August 2022 shooting that killed Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson, the cousin of rapper Quando Rondo. Prosecutors allege that Quando Rondo was the intended target and that Durk helped orchestrate and finance the alleged revenge plot.

During closing arguments, prosecutors urged jurors to view Durk as the powerful figure behind the alleged operation, pointing to communications, travel arrangements and testimony from cooperating witnesses as pieces of a larger conspiracy.

Durk’s attorneys fired back aggressively.

Defense lawyer Brian Steel attacked the credibility of cooperating witness Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester, arguing that jurors should not trust his testimony when deciding whether to take away Durk’s freedom. The defense has maintained throughout the trial that prosecutors failed to prove Durk ordered or knowingly participated in the alleged murder plot.

Another major issue jurors must consider involves the alleged financial component of the murder-for-hire case. Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald previously clarified that payments for expenses such as flights, hotels and phones cannot, standing alone, establish that a bounty or payment was offered in exchange for murder.

Now, the attorneys can do no more.

Jurors must examine the testimony, phone records, travel evidence, alleged communications and credibility of witnesses before deciding whether prosecutors proved each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

The stakes could hardly be higher.

Durk faces the possibility of life in federal prison if convicted on the most serious charges. However, he remains presumed innocent unless and until the jury returns guilty verdicts.

After weeks of courtroom warfare, the spotlight has shifted away from prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses.

It is now all about the jury.

The music world is watching as twelve jurors decide the next chapter in one of hip-hop’s biggest criminal trials.