New information and details surrounding the death of Los Angeles-based rapper Nipsey Hussle have emerged, and it seems like the recently deceased met with his alleged killer shortly before being tragically gunned down.
As reported by Page Six , Nipsey Hussle, born Ermias Joseph Asghedom, shook hands with his alleged killer, Eric Holder, mere moments before he was killed in cold blood. Holder was described as having “envy and hate in his eyes.”
One of Nipsey’s business partners, Herman Douglas, recalled the fateful incident.
“Me and Nipsey was talking, and the dude that shot him, he came and shook our hands. Said he was a rapper and this old bull**t,” Douglas told the Los Angeles Times . “Shook our hands, the dude went and got his burger. He left.”
After Eric Holder left, Hermann went back inside Marathon Clothing — a store that Hussle owned — to finish eating his meal. During that time, Holder returned with a firearm and allegedly proceeded to murder Nipsey.
“So, I might have left Nipsey’s side maybe three seconds,” Douglas recounted. “I left him maybe, approximately three seconds that I had left Nipsey and the dude came and shot him.” Hussle was shot multiple times. Five bullets penetrated his torso, and one struck him in the head. Two others were injured in the shooting, and all three were transported to a nearby hospital. Hussle was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. on March 31, 2019. He was 33-years-old.
Law enforcement officers were able to track down Eric Holder, who was taken into custody two days after the shooting took place, per a report by The Inquisitr . The Los Angeles Police Department took to Twitter to announce the arrest.
“Eric Holder, the suspected killer of Nipsey Hussle, has been arrested and is in police custody. Thank you to both our community for the heightened awareness/vigilance, and our partners at @LASDHQ,” the tweet reads.
Nipsey Hussle shook hands with killer before death https://t.co/hyMXkZoSn2 pic.twitter.com/dgOcc2Bf2o
— Page Six (@PageSix) April 4, 2019
A definitive motive for Nipsey’s murder has not come to light, though authorities believe that the shooting was motivated by a personal matter between Hussle and Holder. As Page Six notes, Holder was an aspiring rapper himself, and Herman Douglas suggests that he was jealous of Nipsey’s recent success.
Hussle rose to prominence with the release of his 2013 mixtape, titled Crenshaw, 100 copies of which were purchased by rapper and mogul Jay-Z for $100 each. At this year’s Grammy Awards, Nipsey’s debut studio album, Victory Lap, was nominated for Best Rap Album, though it ultimately lost out to Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy.
