Photo of Nipsey Hussle
A judge in Los Angeles has denied a bid by Eric Holder Jr. to have two of the charges against him relating to the killing of rapper Nipsey Hussle dismissed.
In March of this year, Hussle was shot dead outside of his clothing store in the Hyde Park section of Los Angeles. Authorities subsequently arrested Holder for the crime and charged him with murder. He was also charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of felony possession of a firearm.
Lowynn Young, who is Holder’s attorney, attempted to get the two counts of attempted murder dropped because prosecutors themselves have acknowledged that Holder was only targeting Hussle. But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry did not agree.
“I’m unwilling to do that,” he said in response to the request, prior to adding that “the court finds that there is enough to go to the jury.” He further cited the prosecution’s “kill zone” theory in the case, in which they believe that, while Holder was only targeting Hussle, he was trying to kill everyone in the zone in which Hussle was located.
Prosecutors are making this “kill zone” theory based on the fact that Hussle was not moving at the time he was shot.
They are also basing the theory on the type of weapon used in the shooting, the distance between the shooter and the target, the proximity of other victims to the target and the fact that the shooting took place in an enclosed area. They have further indicated that there are other details about Hussle that, once revealed, will strengthen their theory.
Nipsey Hussle emerged in the west coast hip-hop scene in the mid-2000s. But he did not release his first studio album until Victory Lap in 2018, which received a Grammy nomination in 2019 for Best Rap Album.
The trial of Holder is scheduled to begin in February of next year.
Nipsey Hussle murder was a true act of public service
I’ll find you.