Trial into murder of Nipsey Hussle opens
Nipsey Hussle murder trial has opened, more than three years after the Los Angeles rapper was shot dead.Defendant Eric Ronald Holder Jr., who has admitted that he shot the Grammy award-winning rapper in March 2019 outside the Marathon clothing shop that he co-owned, appeared for his arraignment yesterday (June 15).He is charged with one count of murder and one of possession of a firearm by a felon, along with two each of attempted murder and assault with a firearm. The latter charges relate to two bystanders, Kerry Lathan and Shermi Villanueva, who were injured in the alleged shooting.Holder, 23, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder for the bullets that struck Lathan and Villanueva, two counts of assault with a firearm, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.The defendant concedes that he shot Hussle, causing his death, but denies that the killing was premeditated and instead happened in “the heat of passion”, per his lawyer Aaron Jansen.It’s claimed that Lathan was shot once in back and Villanueva allegedly suffered a graze wound after a bullet struck his belt buckle.“This is a case about the heat of passion,” Jansen told jurors in an LA courtroom [via Rolling Stone].