LOS ANGELES – The man accused of murdering beloved rapper Nipsey Hussle allegedly shouted “You’re done” while firing 10 to 11 shots in what prosecutors described Wednesday as a cold-blooded coup.
More than three years after Hussle’s death, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John McKinney began the trial of Eric Holder, detailing the murder in a horrific detail.
“He fired from his left and right hand, retreated, fired more, retreated and came back and fired even more,” McKinney said. “The only thing he said while looking at Nipsey … ‘You’re done!'” McKinney said.
Hussle and his accused killer grew up in the same neighborhood and belonged to the same street gang: the Rollin Neighborhood Crips of the 1960s.
But that’s where the similarities ended, the prosecutor said, telling jurors the case was about respect and “snitching.”
Nipsey Hussle was in his Marathon Clothing store when Eric Holder allegedly shot him dead. Getty Images for BET Trial of Nipsey Hussle murder suspect Eric Holder began Wednesday.AP
On March 31, 2019, Hussle was in his store, Marathon Clothing, in LA talking to a group of men when Holder, 32, approached and opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon in his left hand and a revolver on the right. said McKinney.
It was “a very personal attack,” McKinney told the jury.
The video shows Holder kicking the rapper’s head while he was on the ground bleeding.
Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney John McKinney described the murder of Nipsey Hussle as a “very personal attack.”
“He was literally shot from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head,” McKinney said. “The bullet pierced Nipsey’s lungs, a bullet crossed his spine and a bullet pierced his liver. It was a devastating attack.”
He played videos of the shooting and another in which a man was desperately trying to provide CPR to Hussle’s lifeless body.
Holder’s defense attorney admitted in his initial statement that his client did shoot Hussle, 33, but denied it was premeditated.
“This is a hot case of passion,” public defender Aaron Jansen told jurors. Hussle, he said, “made an accusation against Mr. Holder that he was a snitch.”
“This inflamed Mr. Holder so much that without thinking, nine minutes later, Mr. Holder shot Mr. Asghedom,” Jansen added, using Hussle’s legal name. “He didn’t have time to cool off. He was so enraged by this response that he acted without premeditation.”
Holder also faces charges of attempted murder by the two men he shot alongside Hussle.
Kerry Lathan, 56, was seriously injured by a gunshot wound to the back and is now in a wheelchair in a convalescent home. The other man, Shermi Cervinta Villanueva, was only shot by a bullet.
Defense attorney Aaron Jenson admits his client Eric Holder shot Nipsey Hussle but described it as a “passion heat” offense. AP
Jansen said Holder should have been charged with manslaughter rather than murder and insisted his client had no intention of killing the other two men because he did not know them.
Before shooting Hussle and the other men, Holder had a brief conversation with the rapper, but left in a vehicle driven by a woman he was watching. He quickly told the woman to go back to the area and park in an alley before shooting the rapper again.
Hussle’s family was not in Los Angeles court.
Holder was arrested days after the shooting. He pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder and has since been jailed.