Rapper and community activist Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed outside of his clothing store The Marathon, in Los Angeles in the afternoon on March 31, 2019. Two other people were injured in the shooting, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Just a half hour before his murder, the rapper tweeted, “Having strong enemies is a blessing.”
In 2010, Hussle, whose birth name was Ermias Davidson Asghedom, founded the record label All Money In, which he debuted with the release of “The Marathon,” the rapper’s fifth official mixtape. In a PR movie, he sold only 1000 copies of his 2013 album “Crenshaw,” each priced at $100. In 2014, he performed across the country in his Crenshaw Tour. Hussle also collabed with big-name artists like Kendrick Lamar, Drake, YG, Ty Dolla Sign, Meek Mill and Young Thu.
Hussle’s Facebook page was “a devout member of the Rolling Sixty Crips,” a street gang founded in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s.
Mark Ridley-Thomas, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, released a statement saying his district mourned the loss of Hussle.
“Ermias Asghedom, known to us as the hip-hop artist Nipsey Hussle, was a father, businessman, entertainer, and inspiration to many,” Ridley-Thomas said. “Our communities have lost too many young men and bright futures to the scourge of gun violence. For healing to occur, even from this terrible incident, justice must be sought through legal means, and community peace must be found.”
Hussle had been scheduled to meet with LA Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff and LAPD Chief Michael Moore the day after his murder to discuss ways to stop gang violence, according to Soboroff.
Two days after Hussle’s murder, 29-year-old man Eric Holder was arrested in connection with the shooting.
“Eric Holder, the suspected killer of Nipsey Hussle, has been arrested and is in police custody,” the Los Angeles Police Department announced on Twitter on April 2. “Thank you to both our community for the heightened awareness/vigilance, and our partners at @LASDHQ.”
On April 4, 2019, Holder was charged with one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. If convicted, he faces a potential life sentence. His attorney is Christopher Darden, who famously helped prosecute O.J. Simpson trial.
Holder is an aspiring rapper and gang member who knew Hussle previously. They’d had several conversations the day Hussle was shot outside his retail store. According to authorities, Later returned with a handgun, shot Hussle and wounded two other men.
According to a tweet from Los Angeles police Commander Ruby Flores, Holder was found “with the help of an alert and brave community member.”
Hussle was a member of an arm of the Crips street gang and police believe Holder belonged to a gang as well, but it’s been reported that the dispute between the two was not gang-related.
Holder is being held on $5,000,000 bail, according to online jail records. Holder faces between 25 years and life in prison.
He is scheduled to be in court again May 10.
