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Three years after the death of rapper and cultural icon Nipsey Hussle, the man responsible has been found guilty.
On Wednesday, July 6, a jury in Los Angeles found Eric Holder Jr. guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting of Nipsey Hussle. Born Ermias Joseph Asghedom, Hussle was shot and killed in front of his store “The Marathon Clothing Store” on March 31, 2019.
The original Marathon Clothing Store where Nipsey Hussle was killed has been closed, but other locations and stores have been opened by Hussle’s estate.
According to prosecutors, Holder was an embittered acquaintance who had belonged to the same street gang as Hussle and had approached him over allegations that Hussle had called him a snitch.
Holder fired at Hussle with two handguns, hitting the rapper at least 10 times before kicking him in the head. Prosecutor John McKinney, told the Jury that Holder told Hussle “You’re through,” before running from the scene. The prosecutor showed security footage of the murder.
Nipsey Hussle killer Eric Holder Jr. will be sentenced in September.
Defense attorney Aaron Jansen said his client acknowledged killing Nipsey Hussle, but denied it was premeditated.
“We told you that Mr. Holder Jr. did shoot Mr. Asghedom, we told you it was voluntary manslaughter and that he acted in a heat of passion. And we told you what that heat of passion that he acted on consisted of, it consisted of being called publicly a snitch by someone as famous as Nipsey Hussle and we believe that is what the evidence showed,” Jansen said during closing arguments last week, asking jurors to consider lesser charges.
On the second day of deliberations, the jury found Holder guilty of first-degree murder for Nipsey Hussle’s death. These were not the only charges, as Holder was also found guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter, stemming from the two bystanders who were wounded in the shooting.
On top of the charges for the shooting, Holder was found guilty of possessing a firearm as a felon and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Eric Holder Jr. will be sentenced on September 15. The 32-year-old could face 25 years to life in prison for his crimes.