Eric Holder, killer of Nipsey Hussle, sentenced to 60 years to life

On Wednesday, a Los Angeles court sentenced a man convicted of murdering beloved rapper Nipsey Hussle to 60 years in prison to life in prison.

Supreme Court Judge H. Clay Jack II has sentenced 33-year-old Eric Holder, who was found guilty in July of the cold-blooded shooting of a Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist outside his Los Angeles clothing store in March 2019. .

Holder was also found guilty of two counts of attempted manslaughter and two counts of assault with a firearm for a shooting that wounded two other people at the scene who survived.

Holder, in orange overalls, looked straight ahead and did not react when the judge gave him a long sentence.

Although he was not eligible for the death penalty, he was expected to receive a sentence guaranteeing that he would be behind bars for the rest of his life.

The sentencing was delayed several months after Holder’s attorney, Aaron Jansen, said his murder conviction could be reduced to manslaughter or second-degree murder, which Jack dismissed in December.

Hussle, whose birth name is Ermias Asged, and Holder grew up together and kept in touch as adults. They were in the same gang – Rollin 60s Crips – when they were younger.

Both were also aspiring rappers in their youth, although only Hussle achieved national success.

Jansen claimed during the trial that his client shot Hussle in the heat of passion after Hussle accused Holder of being a snitch.

Hussle’s partner and mother of two young children, Lauren London, was not present at any part of the week-long trial, nor were any of his relatives. None of them presented statements of victims about the consequences, as is often the case at such hearings.

Herman “Cowboy” Douglas, a close friend of Hussle who was with him when he was killed, said during the trial that the rapper’s death was a great loss to the South Los Angeles community.

“Nipsey was my friend, he was like a son to me, he was like a father to me,” Douglas said. “Our community has lost everything right now, everything we worked for. The mistake of one man, the action of one man, ruined an entire community.”

“I don’t care what you give this guy. It’s not about time. I just want to know why. The world wants to know why. Why would anyone do this?” he continued.

The evidence against Holder was overwhelming, to the point where Jansen admitted in court that his client shot Hussle.

A key witness, Brianita Nicholson, testified that she saw Holder load a semi-automatic weapon with bullets while he was in her car. Nicholson, who had an intimate relationship with Holder, claimed that he ordered her to park her car in an alley while he got out.

Video played during the trial shows Holder returning to the parking lot of a Marathon store, where he walked up and shot Hustle 11 times, killing the 33-year-old man.

He also shot and killed two other men – Kerry Lathan and Shermie Cervinta Villanueva – as they stood with Hussle, Lathan was left paralyzed and Villanueva received a laceration.

Before leaving the scene, Holder kicked the rapper in the head, seen in the video.

Jansen argued to jurors that the torrid circumstances of the shooting warranted a lesser verdict of voluntary manslaughter, however the jury returned with a verdict of first-degree murder after approximately six hours of deliberation.

The public defender did score a small victory for Holder by securing a conviction for attempted voluntary manslaughter when prosecutors sought a conviction in an attempted murder case.

With mail wires