Nipsey Hussle’s murderer Eric Holder sentenced to 60 years to life

A Los Angeles judge sentenced the man convicted of killing beloved rapper Nipsey Hussle to 60 years to life in prison on Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke II handed down the sentence to 33-year-old Eric Holder, who was found guilty in July of gunning down the Grammy-nominated hip hop artist in cold blood outside of his Los Angeles clothing store in March 2019.

Holder was also convicted of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a firearm for gunfire that hit two other men at the scene who survived.

Holder, wearing an orange jumpsuit, stared straight ahead and did not react as the judge announced his lengthy sentence.

While he was not eligible for the death penalty, he was expected to get a sentencing that guaranteed he would be behind bars for the rest of his life.

The sentencing had been delayed for months after Holder’s defense attorney, Aaron Jansen, argued to reduce Holder’s murder conviction to manslaughter or second degree murder, which Jacke rejected in December.

Hussle, who’s birth name is Ermias Asghedom, and Holder had grown up together and kept in touch into their adult years. They had been in the same gang — the Rollin 60s Crips – when they were younger. 

While younger, both were also aspiring rappers, although only Hussle gained national success.

Jansen argued during the trial that his client shot Hussle in the heat of passion after Hussle accused Holder of being a snitch. 

Hussle’s partner and the mother of his two young children Lauren London did not attend any part of the weeks-long  trial, nor did any of his relatives. None provided victim impact statements, as often happens at such hearings.

Herman “Cowboy” Douglas, a close friend of Hussle who was with him when he was killed, said during the trial that the rapper’s death was a major loss for the South Los Angeles community.

“Nipsey was my friend, he was like a son, he was like a dad,” Douglas said. “Our community right now, we lost everything, everything we worked for. One man’s mistake, one man’s action, messed up a whole community.”

 “I don’t care what you give this guy. It ain’t about the time. I just want to know why. The world wants to know why. Why someone would do that?” he continued.

The evidence against Holder was overwhelming to the point that Jansen conceded in court that his client did shoot Hussle.

A key witness, Bryannita Nicholson, testified that she saw Holder load a semi-automatic weapon with bullets while he was in her car. Nicholson, who had an intimate relationship with Holder, claimed he had instructed her to park her car in an alleyway while he got out. 

Video played during the trial showed Holder walking back to the Marathon store parking lot, where he approached and shot Hustle 11 times, killing the 33-year-old.

He also shot two other men — Kerry Lathan and Shermi Cervinta Villanueva— as they stood with Hussle, Lathan was left paralyzed while Villanueva suffered a graze wound.

Before leaving the scene, Holder kicked the rapper in the head, video showed.

Jansen argued to jurors that the heated circumstances of the shooting warranted a lesser verdict of voluntary manslaughter, however the jury returned with the first-degree murder verdict after about six hours of deliberations.

The public defender did manage a small victory for Holder by securing the attempted voluntary manslaughter convictions where prosecutors had sought attempted murder verdicts.

With Post wires