The trial of Eric Holder Jr., who is accused of shooting Hussle, is underway with opening statements.
The trial of Eric Holder Jr., who is accused of fatally shooting Nipsey Hussle in March 2019, is underway and Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney John McKinney claimed to the jury on Wednesday that the famed artist's shooting was premeditated and deliberate.
In his opening statements, McKinney alleged, per Rolling Stone that there was "no doubt" Holder had thought out his actions and shot Hussle -- whose real name was Ermias Asghedom -- with the intention of killing him.
McKinney opened his statements by showing the jury a video from the aftermath of the killing, as bystanders attempted to resuscitate Hussle after he was gunned down outside his clothing store in South Los Angeles.
Hussle and Holder had publicly gotten into an argument several minutes before Holder returned to the store with a gun and opened fire. His actions were captured on several security cameras, and Holder's attorney, public defender Aaron Jansen, argued in his opening statements that "this is a case about the heat of passion."
According to Jansen, Hussle had accused Holder of "snitching" during their heated argument, and the remark made Holder "so enflamed and enraged" that he acted without thinking and without having time to "cool off."
McKinney rejected this assertion to the jury, telling them, "You’re going to hear and see evidence that he had plenty of opportunity to think about what he was going to do before he did it. From the time he got out of the car and all the way back to that strip mall and walked up to those gentlemen and started shooting and shooting and shooting."
Hussle was shot 10 times in the incident, with one round severing his spinal cord and three rounds puncturing his lungs. McKinney stated that "even if he survived, he would have been paraplegic."
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