Angels— A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday sentenced the man convicted of shooting the rapper Nipsey Hussle between 60 and life imprisonment.
Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke II granted the deferred sentence to Eric R. Holder Jr., 33, who was convicted of the 2019 first-degree murder of a Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist , 33 Years. outside the Marathon clothing store, which Hussle founded in the South Los Angeles neighborhood where the two men grew up in very similar circumstances.
After the month-long trial, jurors in July also convicted Holder of two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault with a firearm for shooting two other men at the scene who survived .
Rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot outside his store in a calculated and premeditated manner, a prosecutor told a jury at the start of his trial.
Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke handed down the sentence Wednesday after hearing from one of Hussle’s friends and hearing a letter from Holder’s father read in court. Holder, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, stared straight ahead throughout the proceedings and was unresponsive as the sentence was read.
Holder was not eligible for the death penalty. He was almost certain to receive a sentence that would guarantee that he would spend the rest of his life in prison, with only the details of his conviction in question.
Sentencing was delayed in part so defense attorney Aaron Jansen could argue to reduce Holder’s sentence to manslaughter or second-degree murder, which Jacke rejected in December.
Hussle, whose legal name is Ermias Asghedom, and Holder had known each other for years when they were members of Rollin’ 60 in South Los Angeles. Both were aspiring rappers. But Holder never met with the same success as Hussle, who would go on to become a local hero and national celebrity.
Actress Lauren London, who was Hussle’s partner and mother of their two young children, did not attend any part of the trial, nor did any of her relatives, and it is not expected that they make victim impact statements, as is often the case. types of hearings.
Herman “Cowboy” Douglas, a close friend of Hussle who was with him when he was killed and testified during the trial, told the court the killing was a great loss to him personally and to the South Los community. Angeles where Hussle lived. I was an entrepreneur and an inspiration.
“Nipsey was my friend, he was like a son, he was like a father,” Douglas said. “Our community right now, we’ve lost everything, everything we worked for. One man’s mistake, one man’s action, ruined an entire community.”
Douglas told the judge, “I don’t care what you give this guy. It’s not a question of time. I just want to know why. The world wants to know why. Why would anyone do that?
The evidence against Holder was so overwhelming, from eyewitnesses to local business surveillance cameras that filmed his arrival, shooting and departure, that his attorney admitted during the trial that he had shot Hussle.