Today (Feb. 22), Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke II sentenced 33-year-old Eric R. Holder Jr. to 60 years to life in prison for the murder of Nipsey Hussle.
In July 2022, a Los Angeles jury found Holder guilty of first-degree murder for the 2019 killing of Hussle. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, the rap star’s longtime romantic partner, actress Lauren London, did not attend any of the trial. She and his relatives are not expected to give victim impact statements. “Nipsey was my friend, he was like a son, he was like a dad. Our community right now, we lost everything, everything we worked for. One man’s mistake, one man’s action, messed up a whole community,” Herman “Cowboy” Douglas, a friend of the “Victory Lap” artist, said at the sentencing.
While speaking before the judge, Douglas added, “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?” As previously reported by REVOLT, Hussle was gunned down by Holder on March 31, 2019 in the parking lot of his Marathon Clothing store. The Grammy-nominated entertainer was 33 years old at the time and left behind two young children. Hussle was known for devoting his time to community issues, and the building he was killed in front of was located in the area he grew up in where’d he sell his mixtapes before reaching fame.
The death penalty was not an option for Holder and his defense attorney, Aaron Jansen, argued that because the crime was not premeditated, his client should receive a lesser verdict of voluntary manslaughter. Hussle and Holder grew up in the same Los Angeles community and had known each other for years. Just before the shooting, the two were reportedly involved in an argument.