Two defendants in the murder-for-hire trial of rapper Lil Durk are once again seeking to distance themselves from the case.
In court documents read by Complex, OTF members OTF DeDe, legal name Deandre Wilson, and Browneyez, legal name David Lindsey, have scheduled hearings after renewing their motion to sever from the case of Durk, legal name Durk Devontay Banks.
In Wilson’s filing, the attorneys maintain that their client’s alleged involvement is limited to the August 2022 shooting attempt on rapper Quando Rondo. Fatally shot in the incident, which occurred in Los Angeles, was his close friend and distant cousin, Saviay’a Robinson. Attorneys also argue that what was initially a shooting case has evolved in a “racketeering prosecution built around a multi-state history of violence,” including a 2019 shooting in Atlanta, an attempted murder of Rondon in Blackshear, Georgia, in 2021, and a Chicago murder in 2022. Neither Wilson or Lindsey is mentioned in the Chicago shooting.
A third defendant, OTF member Boogie, legal name Asa Houston, seeks to be severed entirely from his co-defendants and has held firm to the joint trial date of August 20 after being charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit stalking and possession and use of a firearm.
As AllHipHop notes, Wilson claims that his only connection to the Atlanta shooting is arriving to a video shoot weeks later where Durk has a display of $1 million in cash. Overseeing the case is Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, who denied the first severance request in February, highlighting the point that defendants who are charged with the same alleged plot are usually prosecuted together. Fitzgerald also shared that evidence would possibly overlap regardless of the cases being separated.
Last week, lawyers for Durk maintained their client’s innocence after a gang-related murder charge was added to the case, alleging that Durk oversaw a criminal enterprise and rewarded members for carrying out violent orders.
