Rapper Nipsey Hussle may have been killed following a conversation about snitching, new court documents released by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge seem to suggest.
As Yahoo News reports, the documents appear to reveal a timeline of events leading up to the March 31, 2019 killing of the rapper, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom. Eric Ronald Holder, 29, has been charged with Hussle’s killing and has been held since then on $5 million bail. Holder pleaded not guilty in an initial court appearance on April 4.
The documents suggest that, on the day of his slaying, Hussle had spent much of that afternoon signing autographs and posing for photos with fans outside of his store. One photo was a selfie with an unidentified woman; that woman allegedly drove Holder to the same parking lot where Hussle had been meeting with fans. It’s unclear, as of this writing, if the unidentified woman is facing any criminal charges in connection to Hussle’s slaying.
When Holder arrived to speak with Hussle, the two men purportedly greeted each other with the handshake of their gang, The Rollin’ 60s.
Hussle allegedly told Holder that “word on the street” was that Holder had been “snitching.” According to Urban Dictionary , “Snitching” is the act of telling on someone in order to get out of trouble, or of cooperating with law enforcement at all. In gang culture, says Deputy District Attorney John McKinney, snitching is a “serious offense.”
Nipsey Hussle and alleged shooter Eric Holder exchanged words about “snitching” just before the rapper was fatally shot, a transcript from a grand jury hearing indicates https://t.co/AkuIB07W6C
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 27, 2019
“Man, you know, they got some paperwork on you,” Hussle allegedly told Holder, according to the New York Daily News . “Paperwork,” in this context, refers to court documents that indicate that a witness had provided information to authorities.
According to witness Herman Douglas, Hussle wasn’t accusing Holder of being a snitch. Rather, he was trying to warn his associate that authorities had supposedly labeled him a snitch, which could get him killed.
Holder, however, apparently took it the wrong way, and allegedly believed that Hussle was calling him a snitch, according to McKinney. “[The conversation drove] Eric Holder to a point of wanting to return to the parking lot and kill Nipsey Hussle,” said McKinney.
The documents also lay out how, specifically, Hussle was shot. The documents alleged that Hussle’s killer, allegedly Holder, held a gun in each hand and fired them, alternating between left and right. Fatally wounded, Hussle purportedly said, “you got me,” before falling to the ground. Holder allegedly then kicked Hussle twice before fleeing.
Holder faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.