On Wednesday, the man responsible for killing Grammy-winning rapper Nipsey Hussle on a Los Angeles street in 2019 was sentenced to at least 60 years in prison.
Although his attorneys said it was an impulsive crime committed in the “fire of passion,” Eric Holder had not denied killing Hussle, a fast-rising star whose death shocked the music industry.
The two men got into an argument about Hussle allegedly “snitching” to the police, and a jury last year found Holder had fired at Hussle at least 10 times with premeditation.
Holder was given a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison for the murder and an additional 25 years since a gun was used in the crime by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke.
For shooting and injuring two other nearby males, Holder received an additional ten years in prison.
In his hometown of Los Angeles and among his superstar contemporaries, who praised his musical prowess and commitment to community action, Hussle’s brutal murder in front of the clothes store he owned sparked worldwide sadness.
Hussle, who was 33 years old at the time of his death and had grown up in the city’s Crenshaw neighbourhood, had turned the street where he used to hustle into a retail and employment centre for his Marathon Clothes firm.
He nevertheless continued to be involved with the gang-infested environment in which he was raised.
The 32-year-old gang member Holder and Hussle belonged to the same “Rollin 60s” Crips group.
Prior to Holder leaving the parking lot where the two were conversing, according to the prosecution’s John McKinney during the trial, Hussle had informed Holder that there were reports that Holder had been “snitching.”
Holder “pulls out not one but two firearms and starts shooting” in a “explosion of violence” when he came back a little while later.
The murder was documented on video.
McKinney said in his closing argument that Holder had “quite a bit of time for premeditation and deliberation” and described the assassination as “cold-blooded” and “planned.”
The killing, however, was “an act of impulse and rashness,” according to Holder’s attorney, and should have been tried as manslaughter.
Aaron Jansen claimed that his mentally ill client has already been the target of death threats and that “his life in prison is going to be horrible for as long as it lasts.”
The judge declared that he would advise Holder to live in a facility that can meet his needs in terms of mental health.
He perceived hope
Thousands of people attended a funeral in Hussle’s honour one month after his 2019 murder. Stevie Wonder and Snoop Dogg were among those who paid tribute, and former President Barack Obama wrote a letter that was read at the service.
“Although most people see only gangs, guns, and misery when they look at the Crenshaw neighbourhood where he grew up, Nipsey sees possibility,” Obama wrote.
“He perceived a glimmer of optimism. He observed a group of people who, despite their shortcomings, inspired him to always press on.”
In 2020, Hussle, whose actual name is Ermias Asghedom, received two Grammy Awards posthumously for best rap performance for Racks in the Middle and best rap/sung performance for Higher.
He received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in August, the month in which he would have turned 37.
