{"id":404,"date":"2022-06-30T21:00:50","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T21:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/closing-arguments-in-nipsey-hussle-murder-trial-center-on-motive\/"},"modified":"2022-06-30T21:00:50","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T21:00:50","slug":"closing-arguments-in-nipsey-hussle-murder-trial-center-on-motive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/closing-arguments-in-nipsey-hussle-murder-trial-center-on-motive\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing Arguments in Nipsey Hussle Murder Trial Center on Motive"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Nipsey Hussle was brutally murdered outside his Los Angeles clothing store three years ago because the admitted shooter, his onetime friend Eric Ronald Jr., harbored bitter resentment over the beloved rapper’s worldwide fame in an industry where Holder had failed, prosecutor told jurors in his closing argument Thursday.<\/p>\n

The prosecutor said Holder, 32, was from the same neighborhood as Hussle, had been part of the same Rollin’ 60s street gang that both men joined in their youth, and was motivated by profound envy \u2014 not a \u201csnitching\u201d allegation \u2014 when he left an initial parking lot conversation with Hussle, drove around the block, loaded a gun, ate some chili cheese fries, asked his unwitting getaway driver to wait in an alley, put a shirt on, stalked back to Hussle’s store, and opened fire with a semiautomatic in one hand and a silver revolver in the other.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI submit to you that the motivation for killing Nipsey Hussle had little or nothing to do with the conversation they had; there’s already a pre-existing jealousy,\u201d Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John McKinney told the jury.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he walked up to the group, he said, ‘You’re through,’ to Nipsey Hussle. ‘You’re through.’ He didn’t say, ‘I’m not a snitch.’ He didn’t say, ‘Why are you talking about me?’ He didn’t say, ‘Why are you hating on me?’ He said, ‘You’re through,’\u201d McKinney argued before defense lawyer Aaron Jansen had his turn to deliver his dueling theory of the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think I’m overstating this or overthinking it. When you say, ‘You’re through’ to somebody, that seems like a broader kind of rejection of the person,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cHere you have Nipsey Hussle, who is a successful artist from the same neighborhood, [and] Mr. Holder, who is an unsuccessful rap artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described Hussle as \u201cobviously beloved,\u201d holding court in the parking lot of his popular clothing store, The Marathon, when Holder happened upon him by chance while driving through the neighborhood with a female friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is taking pictures with him,\u201d he said of Hussle. Even \u201cthe girl who brought [Holder] to the parking lot is excited to see him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jansen objected to the mention of \u201cjealousy\u201d seconds after McKinney raised it as the motivation. He said it assumed “facts not in evidence.” The judge overruled him.<\/p>\n

The debate over what fueled Holder to execute Hussle in broad daylight as he stood amid a group of people has been at the center of the high-profile trial that started with opening statements on June 15.<\/p>\n

Holder has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder related to two other men allegedly struck by his bullets, two counts of assault with a firearm, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. If convicted as charged, he faces a possible life sentence.<\/p>\n

Faced with a mountain of surveillance video, photos, and eyewitness testimony, Holder does not dispute he shot and killed Hussle. Instead, his defense hinges on the contention he acted in \u201cthe heat of passion,\u201d meaning his actions were provoked by an allegation of \u201csnitching\u201d and carried out rashly. Jansen said during his opening statement jurors should reduce the charge to manslaughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case was never going to be a whodunnit,\u201d McKinney said Thursday. He urged jurors to reject the defense position that Hussle provoked Holder’s \u201cemotional\u201d response when he mentioned \u201cpaperwork\u201d in the context of a rumor that claimed Holder had cooperated with law enforcement \u2014 a serious offense in gang culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody agrees it was kind of a normal, casual conversation. It wasn’t hostile. It didn’t look like a fight was about to happen. No one was agitated,\u201d McKinney said.<\/p>\n

He further argued that jurors should find Holder guilty of the two attempted murder charges related to the two other men injured by the gunfire because Holder intended to kill more than just Hussle.
\u201cHolder went over there, I submit to you, to shoot everyone in that space because he doesn’t know who else might be packing,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cHe doesn’t know who’s armed and who’s not armed. So when he goes back, he goes back with not one, but two guns because he doesn’t know what kind of resistance he’s going to face.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles jury is expected to begin deliberating later Thursday after Holder’s defense presents its closing argument.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n