LOS ANGELES — More than three years after the deadly shooting of the rapper Nipsey Husslea, whose 2019 murder left scars in front of the local clothing store he owned in the South Los Angeles neighborhood he had devoted his adult life to, a jury Wednesday found Eric R. Holder Jr. guilty of first degree murder in the case. The verdict closes a painful chapter in recent hip-hop history.
During the trial, prosecutors described the shooter as an embittered acquaintance who had belonged to the same street gang as Hussle, but felt disrespected by him during a brief collision in a parking lot.
The fact that Mr Holder pulled the trigger was not in dispute before the court. His own public defender and multiple witnesses identified him as the attacker who fired two pistols at Hussle and hit the rapper at least 10 times before kicking him in the head.
But Mr Holder’s legal team had argued that the case had been overcharged. Aaron Jansen, the public defender representing Mr Holder, said the murder was not premeditated and instead took place in the “heat of passion” about nine minutes after a conversation in which Hussle raised neighborhood rumors that Mr Holder had cooperated with law enforcement, or snatched, a serious crime in the gang world, urging him to clear things up.
Mr Holder should have been charged with voluntary manslaughter, his lawyer said.
After meeting less than an hour on a second day of deliberation, the jurors agreed with Los Angeles prosecutors that Mr. Holder had made the decision to kill Hussle when he returned to a car after the two had spoken, loaded a gun, took a few bites of fries, then marched back through the parking lot to confront the rapper.
Mr Holder, 32, was also found guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter, due to the two bystanders injured in the shooting, lower charges than the charges of attempted murder filed by prosecutors.
Holder’s attorney argued that his client had no particular intent to harm any of the injured men, who were both strangers to him, when he assaulted Hussle outside the Marathon Clothing store in the Crenshaw neighborhood. , Where the rapper and his attacker grew up.
In addition, Mr. Holder was found guilty of possession of a firearm as a felon and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He could face life in prison and would be sentenced on September 15. Mr. Jansen said that when sentencing, he will ask the judge to consider Mr Holder’s mental health history, including a years-long diagnosis of schizophrenia.
In the courtroom, Mr. Holder stared undaunted into space. He was wearing a dark blue suit and white sneakers. There was no sound in the courtroom when the verdict was announced – no response from the half-full room.
Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Joseph Asghedom, was widely mourned after his death at age 33 as a principled artist and entrepreneur who transcended his early years as a member of the local Rollin’ 60s Crips to emerge as a hard-boiled, motivational lyricist. and community ambassador. To be public commemoration in April 2019what was then known as the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles attracted some 20,000 admirers, including Stevie Wonder and Snoop Dogg.
While not a commercial hitmaker for most of his career, Hussle was known for his extensive industry connections and independent business acumen. A Grammy nomination for best rap album and a management partnership with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation towards the end of his life had the rapper ready to step deeper into the mainstream.
Meanwhile, Hussle had also preached Black empowerment through business and education, investing his profits as a musician in the neighborhood where he grew up. With a group of backers, Hussle bought the strip mall at the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue that housed his Marathon store, while also helping open a nearby co-working space dedicated to increasing diversity in science and technology.
After the verdict, John McKinney, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney prosecuting the case, said he hoped it would bring “a resounding peace” to the rapper’s friends and fans.
“This verdict and the story of his life will certainly be discussed in Crenshaw and Slauson,” said Mr. McKinney, “but its significance will go well beyond those streets.”
On the Sunday Hussle was murdered, he had stopped by the shopping plaza for an unannounced visit, as he often did, according to court testimony. While Hussle chatted with friends and associates in the parking lot, Hussle spent about half an hour signing autographs and posing for photos with fans.
At the time, Bryannita Nicholson, a woman with whom Mr. Holder was casually dating him around the area, Ms. Nicholson. A key prosecution witness who said she had transported Mr. Holder to and from the shooting scene was given to Ms. Nicholson was granted immunity from prosecution for her appearance in court.
As Mrs. Nicholson pulled into the square so that Mr. Holder could get something to eat, she saw Hussle in the parking lot and casually remarked that he looked handsome, she said in the stands. Mr. Holder, a fellow member of the Rollin’ 60s Crips, approached Hussle for a brief chat while Ms. Nicholson waited in the car, she said.
According to witnesses, the meeting between the two men was casual and restrained. But prosecutors said Hussle Mr. Holder said there were rumors in the area that he had sniffed. Hussle encouraged Mr Holder to “get the paperwork” proving he hadn’t, Mr McKinney said.
“It just seemed like an ordinary conversation,” Mr McKinney told the jury. “But it clearly wasn’t.” He called the pair “two men whose life arcs bent in different directions.”
When the men had finished talking, Mrs. Nicholson said she heard talk of betrayal when she approached Hussle for a selfie, which she posted on Facebook. It would be the last photo of the rapper. When asked in court if she felt a fight was coming, Ms Nicholson said, “No, I wasn’t scared at all.”
When Mrs. Nicholson pulled into another nearby parking lot for Mr. Holder to eat, she testified, he pulled out a gun and began loading it. He walked back to Hussle’s shop; a short time later, Mrs. Nicholson gunshots.
According to witnesses, Mr. Holder addressed the rapper outside and said “You’re done” as he opened fire.
“You got me,” said Hussle, according to the prosecution. Two men standing next to Hussle, Kerry Lathan and Shermi Villanueva, were injured by the shots.
In his opening statement, Mr. McKinney, the prosecution, Mrs. Nicholson as some sort of unwitting accomplice. “I think you’ll find in her a naivety, a simplicity,” he said. Mr. Holder usually avoided her eyes or looked at her without emotion as she testified.
In that testimony, Ms. Nicholson said that when Mr. Holder got back into her car, he told her to drive or hit her. That evening she learned of Hussle’s death. But Ms. Nicholson said it wasn’t until more than a day after the shooting, when her mother recognized her white Chevy Cruze on the news, that she realized Mr. Holder might have been involved.
Mr McKinney emphasized that Ms Nicholson was quick to agree to cooperate with the police, give authorities access to data from her phone and conduct hours of interviews. “I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is my reputation too,'” she testified.
In addition to the agreed-upon motive in the shooting, the concept of treason — and its disproportionate importance in gang culture — loomed during the trial. While Mr Holder was repeatedly identified as the gunman, lawyers on both sides cited the reluctance of some witnesses to testify in detail, or even appear in court, for fear of retaliation.
“I know nothing, see nothing,” said Mr Lathan, who was injured in the incident, during his turn on the witness stand.
“Won’t you testify about what happened?” the prosecutor asked.
“That’s right,” Mr. Lathan said.
mr. Jansen, the defense attorney, had argued that it was precisely this anti-snitching culture that fueled a conversation between Hussle and Mr. Holder turned into a provocation.
“Even people who get shot don’t want to come in and testify against the Rollin’ 60 gang members,” said Mr. Jansen in an interview after the verdict. “I thought those facts supported what we said. Eric Holder also didn’t want to be labeled a snitch for fear of retaliation.”
Mr. Jansen added: “I just wanted people to remember Eric Holder Jr. a human being. He has done something terrible and he will have to appear in court for it.”
Last Tuesday, Mr Holder was attacked while in custody, briefly delaying the final days of the trial. His lawyer said his client had been punched in the face and “cut with some kind of razor”.
Due to the high-profile nature of the case, and because it hinged on questions about the consequences of sniffing, Mr. Jansen that his client should have been in pre-trial detention.
In court, prosecutors relied in part on the testimony of Herman Douglas, known as Cowboy, a former Rollin’ 60s member who worked at Hussle’s Marathon store.
Mr Douglas testified that although he was no longer involved in gang life, he still kept a watchful eye on every car and person that crossed his path for signs that they could be dangerous. At no point in Hussle’s conversation with Mr. Holder, he said, did he feel the rapper was in danger. “I would have stolen him out of there,” said Mr. Douglas.
When the defense Mr. Douglas questioned whether there could be as serious consequences as “being beaten up or even killed” for sniffs, Mr. Douglas that that was unlikely. He noted that his participation in the trial could be seen as a tell-tale by some. But things had changed since he got close.
“I’m not worried,” he said. “Maybe in the ’80s, yes, but this is 2022.”
After the conviction, Mr. Douglas sat outside the courtroom, crying into his hand, shoulders trembling. He later told reporters he didn’t know if he would ever feel closure after his friend’s death. But he said he hoped his participation in the trial would show others that sometimes it was worth speaking up.
“Just do the right thing,” he said. “Whatever people say.”