June 28 (UPI) — Slain rapper Nipsey Hussle called the gunman who killed him a “snitch” just hours before he was shot 10 times at a south Los Angeles strip mall, grand jury testimony shows.
After firing a barrage of bullets at Hussle, police said shooter Eric Holder kicked Hussle in the head before running off. Holder, who also injured two bystanders, faces one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, assault with a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
“You got me,” Hussle said after being shot, the testimony shows.
A judge unsealed and released the testimony from witnesses describing what happened the day the burgeoning rapper was shot. He was signing autographs and meeting with fans at the Hyde Park strip mall where he owned several businesses.
Police said Holder approached Hussle, 33, and the two had a four-minute conversation.
“Apparently, the conversation had something to do with [Hussle] telling Mr. Holder that word on the street was the Mr. Holder was snitching,” Deputy District Attorney John McKinney said. “The conversation wasn’t particularly intense. It wasn’t particularly belligerent.”
Hussle, born Ermias Asghedom, also warned Holder someone had been cooperating with police. “Snitching” in the gang world is a serious offense, the testimony said — so much so “that it moved Holder to a point of wanting to return to the parking lot and kill Nipsey Hussle.”
Holder, an aspiring rapper, was arrested two days after the shooting and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
