Nipsey Hussle’s killer convicted of first-degree murder

A 32-year-old man was found guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday for the 2019 fatal shooting of rapper Nipsey Hussle.

Eric Holder Jr. gunned down the beloved South Los Angeles community leader and rapper on March 31, 2019 but his trial was delayed for years due to the pandemic.

The Los Angeles County jury also found Holder guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter for gunfire that hit bystanders.

Eric Holder sits in the courtroom on the opening day of his trial, June 15, in Los Angeles. (Frederick M. Brown /)

Surveillance videos and several witnesses proved Holder was the killer, to the point that his defense team didn’t even refute it. They instead argued for a voluntary manslaughter conviction, claiming that Holder acted in the “heat of passion” after Hussle, 33, accused him of being a snitch.

Prosecutors countered that Holder stepped away for 10 minutes, loaded two guns and returned to kill Hussle, whose legal name was Ermias Asghedom.

“He thought about it and he did it,” prosecutor John McKinney told the jury last week. “That’s all premeditated means. It doesn’t mean he planned it for weeks.”

The jury sided with the prosecution after a six-hour debate over two days.

Holder visited Hussle’s clothing store, The Marathon, on that day because he was in the neighborhood for a bite to eat.

The two men grew up in the same street gang, the Rollin’ 60s Neighborhood Crips, but had both left that life behind.

Hussle became a rising rap star and community pillar in South Los Angeles, opening stores and bringing new development to the region.

Nipsey Hussle in a 2018 photo. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/)

“While some people get successful, they make money, they leave their neighborhood, they change their address, this man was different,” McKinney said. “He wanted to change the neighborhood. He invested in the neighborhood. He kept the same friends and the neighborhood loved him.”

During their brief conversation, Hussle casually suggested there might be “paperwork” on Holder, implying some people thought he was working with the police. Witnesses described the interaction as largely “chill.”

But 10 minutes later Holder returned and fatally shot Hussle. He then forced a woman to drive him away from the scene. She later testified against him at trial.

The defense team focused on the snitch accusation, arguing that such a claim from a prominent person like Hussle could’ve had serious consequences for Holder.

“This is a provocation that stirs up rage and powerful emotion,” defense attorney Aaron Jansen said.

Prosecutors insisted that the initial conversation had been so benign that Holder must have been acting on some deep-seated resentment when he returned with guns blazing.

Holder faces up to life in prison without parole at his Sept. 15 sentencing hearing.

Hussle’s death led to an outpouring of community support. He posthumously won two Grammy awards after being nominated shortly before his death in 2019, and his funeral was held at the Los Angeles Lakers arena in downtown Los Angeles.

With News Wire Services