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A jury has found a 32-year-old man guilty of first-degree murder in the 2019 shooting of rapper Nipsey Hussle.
A Los Angeles County jury also found Eric R Holder Jr guilty of two counts of attempted manslaughter, not two counts of attempted murder, as prosecutors pursued two others at the scene The man who was shot.
Holder, wearing a blue suit and face shield, stood in the small courtroom next to his lawyer as the verdict was read. He had no apparent reaction.
Jurors deliberated for about six hours over two days before reaching a verdict.
The verdict ends a legal saga that lasted more than three years and a trial that was often delayed because of the pandemic.
Holder and Hussle had known each other for years — they grew up as members of the same South Los Angeles street gang — when a chance encounter outside the rapper’s Los Angeles clothing store led to the shooting and his death.
The evidence against Holder was overwhelming, from witnesses to surveillance cameras at local businesses capturing his arrival, shooting and departure.
His lawyers didn’t even deny he was the shooter, urging jurors to find him guilty of a lesser charge of intentional manslaughter.
After the shooting, the two talked about rumors that Holder had been serving as an informant for the authorities.
Holder’s attorney, Aaron Jansen, said being publicly accused of being a “whistleblower” by someone as prominent as Hussle gave Holder a “passion” to acquit him of first-degree murder.
“It was a provocation that stirred anger and strong emotions,” Mr. Jensen told jurors on Thursday.
Deputy District Attorney John McKinney argued during the trial that Holder and everyone else in the conversations before Husserl’s death were so peaceful that the “whistleblower” conversation could not have been the primary motive, and that Holder’s previous There must be some jealousy or hatred going on.
Mr. McKinney told jurors that the nine minutes between the conversation and the shooting allowed enough time for the killing to be premeditated, a requirement for first-degree murder.
The jury apparently agreed.
Hussle, whose legal name was Ermias Asghedom, died at the age of 33. He had just released his major label debut album, which earned him his first Grammy nomination when he was shot.
He was a well-loved figure in Los Angeles, especially in the South Los Angeles area where he grew up, and stayed after his fame, buying properties and starting businesses.
“He wants to change the community,” Mr McKinney said in the final debate.
“He kept the same friends. The neighbors loved him. They called him the Neighborhood Nip.”
Hussle mourned in a memorial at the arena then known as the Staples Center and celebrated by performing at the Grammys, which included DJ Khaled and John Legend.
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