Photo: Nipsey Hussle | By James Queally, LA Times | A Crips gang member was sentenced to at least 60 years in prison Wednesday for killing beloved rapper Nipsey Hussle outside his Crenshaw clothing store in 2019.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke sentenced Eric Holder Jr. to 25 years to life in state prison for murdering Hussle and an additional 25 years to life based on a sentencing enhancement because he used a gun. Holder must serve an additional 10 years in prison on assault convictions for shooting two other men who were with Hussle the day of the killing, Jacke said.
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The two had a brief conversation, but Holder returned minutes later with two handguns and opened fire in the middle of the parking lot, killing Hussle, whose legal name was Ermias Asghedom, and wounding two other men nearby.
Hussle’s death sparked more than a week of citywide mourning. While Hussle was celebrated nationally for his Grammy-nominated record “Victory Lap,” locally he was seen as a philanthropist and key community figure who had reinvested in the Crenshaw neighborhood he often rapped about. Hussle owned and operated several businesses in the area, including the clothing store where he was killed.
Referred to by some as “Neighborhood Nip,” Hussle had poured nearly $2.5 million into the lot where he was killed and often traveled the area without security despite his status as a hip-hop superstar. He was signing autographs the day he was killed.
Herman Douglas, better known as “Cowboy,” who was a close friend of the rapper, said during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing that Hussle’s murder had torn a hole in the community, leaving people who once relied on Hussle desperate for work.
“Our community right now, we lost everything. Everything we worked for. … Thousands of jobs we don’t have no more. Homies don’t have nothing to do. They backsliding, they robbing people now,” Douglas said. “All our stores are closed down. The whole community relied on Nip.”
The assault was captured on video, and there was no question Holder was the gunman when trial started last year. . . .
Holder and Hussle were both members of the infamous Rollin’ 60s set of the Crips street gang. .
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As Holder was led out of court, Douglas started singing, “Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back no more,” laughing as Jacke and deputies admonished him and ordered him out of the room.
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Read the whole story here including why Holder didn’t think he should spend time in jail:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-22/nipsey-hussle-murder-eric-holder-jr-sentencing
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Nipsey Hussle’s Convicted Killer Likely To Be Sentenced to Life In Jail
https://balleralert.com/profiles/blogs/nipsey-hussles-convicted-killer-to-likely-be-sentenced-to-life/
Crips Gang Member Sentenced to 60 Years in Prison in Murder of Nipsey Hussle
