More than three years after the fatal
shooting of rapper
Nipsey Hussle, a proudly local Los Angeles artist whose
killing reverberated far beyond the world of West Coast hip-hop, the trial of
the accused gunman, Eric R. Holder Jr., is finally underway. Jury selection in
the case, which had been repeatedly delayed because of the
COVID-19 pandemic,
began on June 2. Opening arguments are expected to start this week, with the
trial likely to last about four weeks.
اضافة اعلان
Hussle, whose
real name was Ermias Asghedom, was shot and killed on March 31, 2019, outside a
clothing store he owned in South Los Angeles, with the police soon attributing
the attack to a personal dispute. Two days after the shooting, which also
wounded two bystanders, Holder, then 29, was arrested and charged with murder,
attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. He pleaded not guilty
and has since been held in lieu of $6.5 million bail.
According to court records,
Los Angeles County
prosecutors plan to argue that Holder and the 33-year-old Hussle, two old
acquaintances who belonged to the same street gang, had a chance encounter in a
strip mall parking lot, during which the rapper mentioned neighborhood rumors
that Holder had cooperated with law enforcement. Minutes later, prosecutors
say, Holder returned with two handguns and began firing repeatedly. Here is
what else to know about the case.
Who was Nipsey
Hussle?
A workmanlike rapper with
underground credentials and an A-list network of supporters, Hussle was more
than 15 years into his music career when he released his proper debut album in
2018. Before the Grammy-nominated “Victory Lap,” Hussle had built a career that
was richer in industry respect and goodwill than hit records, though he
collaborated widely with artists like
Snoop Dogg,
Drake and Rick Ross. Known
for his independent business ethos and novel marketing ideas, like the
limited-edition $100 mixtape “Crenshaw,” Hussle had partnered with Jay-Z’s Roc
Nation management company as he eyed a move toward the mainstream.
A self-proclaimed member of the Rollin’ 60s Crips,
Hussle had also made a name for himself as a community ambassador and an
entrepreneur in his South Los Angeles neighborhood. While seeking to stem gang
violence in the area, he preached Black empowerment through business ownership,
reinvesting his earnings as a musician in the place where he grew up.
With a group of backers, Hussle had bought the strip
mall at the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue that housed his
Marathon clothing store, while also helping to open a nearby coworking space
dedicated to increasing diversity in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics.
What happened on the
day of the shooting?
That Sunday afternoon, according to grand jury transcripts, Hussle
arrived at the shopping plaza for an unannounced visit, as he often did. While
catching up with neighborhood friends and employees in the parking lot in front
of his Marathon store, Hussle spent about half an hour signing autographs and
posing for photos with fans.
At the same time, a woman Holder was casually dating
was driving him around the area just to hang out, the woman testified to the
grand jury in 2019. As they stopped to get something to eat, the woman noticed
Hussle outside the store and remarked in passing that he looked handsome, she
said. Holder did not indicate that he knew the rapper, but approached him for a
brief conversation after ordering chili cheese fries at a nearby burger place
while the woman waited in the car.
“Apparently the conversation had something to do
with Mr Asghedom telling Mr Holder that word on the street was that Mr Holder
was snitching,” John McKinney, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney,
told the grand jury, citing witnesses.
Hussle, the witnesses said, seemed to be looking out
for Holder, telling him he needed to address the rumors. When Holder asked
Hussle and those around him if they had heard the music he had been working on,
they said they had not. As the men finished speaking, the woman driving Holder
approached Hussle for a selfie, which she soon posted to Facebook.
Upon returning to the car, Holder told the woman to
pull into another nearby parking lot so he could eat his fries, she said. After
a few bites, he loaded a 9mm pistol, she testified, and walked back toward
Hussle’s store. According to witnesses, Holder confronted the rapper and said,
“You’re through” as he opened fire with a gun in each hand, hitting Hussle at
least 10 times and then kicking him twice in the head.
“You got me,” Hussle said, according to court
testimony. Two other men, Kerry Lathan and Shermi Villanueva, were wounded by
the gunfire.
How was Eric Holder
identified as the suspect?
Recognized in the
neighborhood as another member of the Rollin’ 60s Crips, Holder was better
known by his nickname, a descriptive epithet. Surveillance footage captured the
shooting, in addition to the car he used to flee the scene, and the police soon
publicized the information. Upon seeing her vehicle on the news, the woman who
had been with Holder submitted to a five-hour interview with police officers,
along with searches of her car and her mother’s home, where Holder had spent
the night of the shooting before moving to hide out at a Motel 6.
The woman later
testified that she had heard the gunshots but was confused about what had
occurred until she saw coverage of Hussle’s death online. When Holder first
returned to the car, she recalled, “He’s like, ‘Drive, drive, before I slap
you.’” The woman declined to press him on the specifics of what happened out of
fear, she said.
That Tuesday, two days after the shooting, Holder
was arrested without incident in Bellflower, California. The murder weapons
were never found.
What is Holder’s
defense?
Holder was originally
represented by Chris Darden, a lawyer perhaps best known as one of the
prosecutors in the 1995 trial of OJ Simpson. But Darden soon withdrew from the
case, citing death threats against his family. Instead, Holder will be
represented at trial by a public defender, Aaron Jansen, who said in an email
that he plans to argue that the case was “overcharged.”
The lawyer has also alluded to Holder’s struggles
with mental health, noting that the defendant was on a high dosage of
medication and had been treated with electroshock therapy “as a last resort to
help him.” Whether Holder will testify, the lawyer said, is his client’s
decision. He faces life in prison.
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