The Nipsey Hussle murder trial began Wednesday, June 15, with the jury hearing
opening statements.
The shooter, Eric Holder has been charged with Hussle’s death. He was indicted on
one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and one count of possession
of a firearm by a felon, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
‘It was a devastating attack ….a very personal attack,’ Deputy District Attorney John
McKinney told the jury of nine women and three men in his opening statement at the
trial of aspiring rapper Eric Holder, 32, the man accused of using two guns to shoot
Hussle at least 10 times in March 2019.
Holder, who grew up in tough south LA where both he and Hussle were recruited by
the Rollin’ 60s gang, also known as the Neighborhood Crips, is charged with one
count of murder, two of attempted murder, two of assault with a firearm and one of
possession of a firearm by a felon. He faces up to life in prison if convicted as
charged.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution began by describing Hussle as a father, a son, comparing him in
sharp contrast to Holder.
Read Also: Young Jeezy Speaks On His Nipsey Hussle Experience
“The defendant, in this case, was also an aspiring rapper – not nearly as successful,
not nearly as respected and the two didn’t really have a lot in common,” McKinney
told the jury. “They were two men whose arcs in life were bending in two different
directions. The one thing they did have in common was their roots.”
Calling the star’s killing a ‘premeditated and deliberate’ murder, McKinney said
Hussle was ‘shot from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head,’ after accusing
fellow gang-member Holder of being a ‘snitch.’
Just before firing, he added, Holder told Hussle. ‘You’re through,’ and when the first
shot hit him, the Grammy-winning hip-hopper yelled, ‘You got me.’
Witnesses, including the woman who drove Holder from the scene, are expected to
describe a conversation between Holder and Hussle that apparently had to do with
rumors about “snitching,” before Holder allegedly fatally shot Hussle 10 times.
Following that conversation, McKinney said Holder asked the woman who was
driving the car to circle behind the parking lot, before they return to the scene where
he fatally shot Hussle 10 times.
Videos presented in the courtroom will show the moments that Holder allegedly fired
at Hussle.
“There’s a range of consequences for people who snitch,” McKinney said. “No gang
member wants to be considered a snitch.”
L.A. County Deputy Public Defender Aaron Jansen said Wednesday in his opening
statement that his client was Hussle’s killer.
However, he told the jury that it was Holder’s passionate response to the “snitching”
accusations against Hussle and was not premeditated.
“This is a case about the heat of passion,” said Jansen. “The provocative act in this
case was that Nipsey Hussle made an accusation against Mr. Holder that he was a
snitch.”
Jansen said that the first-degree charge for premeditated murder should instead be
“voluntary manslaughter.”
Hussle, the grammy-winning rapper whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was
gunned down in April 2019 outside of his clothing store in South Los Angeles.
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