A Los Angeles jury found reputed gang member Eric Holder Jr. guilty of first-degree murder for the 2019 fatal shooting of rapper Nipsey Hussle.
Holder, 32, was convicted on Wednesday, July 6, for the March 31st murder of Hussle outside a clothing store he owned in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Holder showed no reaction after the jury announced the guilty verdict.
Hussle, a rapper who was beloved for his benevolence, was shot 11 times and pronounced dead at a local hospital. Two other men were shot but survived their injuries.
A woman who unwittingly drove the getaway car turned herself in two days later and identified Holder as the shooter. He was arrested at a mental hospital in nearby Bellflower.
Holder and Hussle, real name Ermias Asghedom, were both members of the notorious Rollin 60s street gang. Witnesses testified that Hussle had warned Holder there was “paperwork” on him — an implication that he was a police informant.
Prosecutors say Holder became enraged and gunned Hussle down in front of witnesses.
Holder’s attorney said a gang member of Hussle’s status calling him a snitch in front of other gang members left his client so “triggered” that he wasn’t thinking clearly when he shot the rapper.
“This was not just a pleasant conversation between homies who are chopping it up … this was a serious accusation,” Jansen said during closing arguments. “Mr. Holder Jr. took it serious, as it was. He knows the consequences of being called a snitch in this manner.”
Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney dismissed Jansen’s argument as “ridiculous”.
Holder wore a black mask in court that concealed facial injuries he suffered during a jailhouse beat down last week.
A photo of Holder’s swollen face went viral on social media.
Shout out to the Latino man that beat the breaks off Eric Holder.
RIP NIPSEY pic.twitter.com/IA6kvZwuMx
— Mr. Wholesomething (@footballguy82) July 5, 2022
