LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 15: Eric Ronald Holder Jr. is seen in the courtroom at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on September 15, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Holder was found guilty of murdering rapper Nipsey Hussle outside the rapper’s clothing store on March 31, 2019 in Los Angeles. The sentencing hearing of Eric Ronald Holder Jr. in the Nipsey Hussle murder trial was postponed today until November 3, 2022. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
The man responsible for shooting and killing Nipsey Hussle has been sentenced to 60-years-to-life in prison for the rapper’s March 2019 murder.
Eric Holder Jr. received 25-years-to-life on the murder count, an additional 25-to-life for a sentencing enhancement due to a gun being used, and another 10 years for shooting two other men that same day who ultimately survived the shooting.
Herman Douglas (Nipsey’s friend better known as “Cowboy”) started singing “hit the road Jack” as Holder was led away, leading the judge and deputies to criticize him and order him out of the courtroom, according to the Los Angeles Times’ James Queally.
In July after the monthlong trial, jurors also convicted Holder 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.
The jury returned with the first-degree murder verdict after about six hours of deliberations.
Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke handed down the sentence Wednesday after listening to a letter from Holder’s father read aloud in court and hearing from one of Nip’s friends.
Dressed in orange jail attire, Holder stared emotionless throughout the proceedings and did not react when the sentence was read.
He was not eligible for the death penalty, however it was already a foregone conclusion that his sentencing would guarantee he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
The sentencing had been delayed in part so defense attorney Aaron Jansen could file motions to reduce Holder’s conviction to manslaughter or second-degree murder.
Judge Jacke ultimately rejected those motions in December.
Jansen said afterward that he was “deeply disappointed” in the verdict, which they planned to appeal.
He did manage a minor victory for his client by securing the attempted voluntary manslaughter convictions where prosecutors had sought attempted murder verdicts.
Hussle, whose legal name is Ermias Asghedom, and Holder had actually known each other for years growing up as members of the Rollin’ 60s in South LA. Both had aspirations of becoming rappers, however only Hussle would go on to become a local hero and a national celebrity.
Meanwhile, actor Lauren London, who was Hussle’s partner and the mother of his two young children, did not attend any part of the trial, nor did any of his family.
