Trials
Lil Durk beat the murder-for-hire counts. Acquittal is not a jail-release order.
A Los Angeles federal jury cleared Durk Banks on Sept. 11. The October racketeering trial is a different case.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
Not guilty means the government did not prove those counts. It does not close the file. On Sept. 11, 2026, a Los Angeles federal jury acquitted Durk Banks — Lil Durk — of conspiracy, stalking resulting in death, and murder-for-hire in the 2022 gas-station shooting that killed Saviay’a Robinson. Two co-defendants were also acquitted of murder-for-hire but convicted of stalking-related charges. Banks remains in custody for a separate racketeering trial set for Oct. 5. One verdict form does not dismiss the next indictment.
As of Sept. 17, 2026, the murder-for-hire case is over for Banks. The government said it was disappointed and would present evidence at the second trial. That is a prosecutor talking about a different pleading. The October case is built on racketeering-murder and firearms counts that were severed from the first trial. A new jury will be picked. The first jury’s not-guilty findings do not decide those counts.
The defense theory in September was that someone else drove the plot. The jury accepted reasonable doubt on the murder-for-hire package. That is the end of that trial. It is not a finding that the shooting did not happen, and it is not a finding that Banks is finished with federal court. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer
Nathan Lee Lowe pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and the court sentenced him to life without parole.
A guilty plea and a life term are the judgment on the counts he admitted. They are not a jury verdict, and the public accounts still do not name a weapon or a medical cause beyond trauma. WACB’s plea story says deputies found “obvious severe trauma.” WHKY, carrying that story, says “severe trauma.” The Taylorsville Times, citing Sheriff Chad Pennell the day after the 2024 arrest, said “apparent trauma” and listed Lowe’s age then as 39. The plea coverage lists him as 41.
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Reporting noted by WACB, WHKY, and Taylorsville Times.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer
A Marion County jury convicted Roderick Watson Jr., and the judge sentenced him to life.
A life term after a guilty verdict is the judgment on that count. It is not a second look at the self-defense claim the jury rejected. The State Attorney's Office says deputies found four gunshot wounds. Law & Crime, citing the arrest affidavit, says six. The office's release places the school "in Citrus." WFTV places it in Citra. The name on the office's release is Jaurez. Three other outlets spell it Juarez.
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Reporting noted by Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office, WFTV, WCJB, and Law & Crime.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer
Judge Morgan sentenced Dylan Cody Lamb to life for killing Nadyne Marie Tillman.
Friday's order is the sentence on an August jury verdict. Keys News, citing the State Attorney's Office, reported life without parole plus two five-year terms that run together. Keys Weekly reported the verdict as second-degree murder, false imprisonment, and tampering with evidence. The Miami Herald's conviction story called one of those counts kidnapping. The judgment Keys News reported Friday used the false-imprisonment label.
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Reporting noted by Keys News, Keys Weekly, Miami Herald, NBC 6 South Florida, Monroe County State Attorney's Office, and Monroe County Sheriff's Office.