The Assassination of Nipsey Hussle in South LA

0:00 March 31, 2019. A Sunday afternoon in South Los Angeles. Nipsey Hussle is standing in the parking lot of his own clothing store. The one he built to revitalize the neighborhood that raised him. He's helping a friend who got out of prison get some new clothes. And then someone walks up. Someone he knows. Someone from his own gang. What happens next will take less than two minutes, but the aftermath will raise questions that are still with us today.

0:54 There's this corner in South Los Angeles where Khrinshaw Boulevard meets Slauson Avenue. That's where Hermes Asgardom built his empire. You might know him better as Nipsey Hussle. And on March 31, 2019, that's where he died. Nipsey grew up in the Khrinshaw district during the crack epidemic. His dad was Ebtrium. His mom was Black American. And by the time he was a teenager, he was homeless and getting jumped into the Roland 60s neighborhood of the Khrips. In that environment, you either joined or you became a target. But Nipsey was different. He had this entrepreneurial brain that most people in his situation never get to develop. He started selling mixtape set of his card trunk in the same parking lot where he'd eventually open marathon clothing. In 2013, he released his Khrinshaw mixtape as a free download. But then he printed a thousand physical copies and sold them for $100 each.

1:50 Jay-Z bought a hundred copies. That's $10,000. Suddenly, everyone understood that Nipsey wasn't playing the same game. A 2017, he'd gone from selling CDs out of his trunk to owning property on that same block. He opened marathon clothing and was buying back the entire strip mall to buy mixt used housing so their community could own their own neighborhood. He co-founded Vector 90, this tech incubator designed to get kids from Khrinshaw into Silicon Valley careers. And he was doing all of this while still claiming Roland 60s. He was meeting with the LAPD to discuss gang violence prevention, but he never renounced his affiliation. That duality made him accessible. It also made him vulnerable.

2:34 Eric Holder Jr. was also Roland 60s. He grew up in Khrinshaw as well. He also wanted to be a rapper. But while Nipsey was ascending to Grammy nominations, Holder was falling apart. At 19, Holder was diagnosed with auditory schizophrenia. And gang culture, mental illness gets interpreted as weakness or aggression. Holder tried to get help at mental health facilities, but nothing stuck. By 2019, he was basically homeless watching Nipsey's success from a distance. Rumors had started circulating that Holder had snitched. Whether it was true almost didn't matter. In that world, the accusation alone is a death sentence. And if you're already hearing voices and struggling with reality, that rumor becomes gasoline on a fire.

3:21 Sunday March 31, 2019. Nipsey shows up at marathon clothing around 2 in the afternoon. No security. He's there to help a friend named Keith Lathon who'd finished a 20-year prison sentence. Nipsey wants to help get him fresh clothes before he sees his family. Around the same time, Eric Holder is driving with a woman named Brianita Nicholson, a lift driver he'd been casually seeing. Holder tells her to pull up to the strip mall for some food. When they pull in, Nicholson gets excited. "Oh, there goes Nipsey. He fine. I want to take a picture with him." That's what she said. Holder walks over to Nipsey. What happens next? Lasts about 4 minutes. Nipsey doesn't greet him with hostility. He greets him with a warning. "You need to address it," Nipsey tells him. "People got some paperwork on you."

4:11 In gang terminology, paperwork means official documents proving you cooperated with law enforcement. Nipsey is saying, "I'm hearing rumors about you snitching and there's supposedly some evidence. You need to handle this before it gets worse." Holder gets defensive. "Did you see any paperwork?" Nipsey admits he hasn't. But the word is out there. Nicholson takes her selfie with Nipsey and gets back into the car. Holder walks into Master Burger, orders chili cheese fries, then gets back into Nicholson's car. And this is when everything changes. Nicholson's testified that Holder suddenly pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun and started loading it. "What are you doing?" she asks. "You talk too much. I ought to slap you."

4:53 Then he tells her to drive around the block and park in an alley. "Wait here. I'll be right back." That's nine minutes from the conversation to the shooting. Nine minutes where he could have driven away. Instead, he loaded two guns, positioned his getaway driver and walked back. At 3.18 pm, Eric Holder walks back into that parking lot carrying two guns. A black semi-automatic and one, a silver revolver in the other. Surveillance cameras called everything. He doesn't hesitate. He walks straight to Nipsey and starts shooting. Carrie Lathen gets shot in the back. The bullet goes through his bowel and damages his spine. He ends up in a wheelchair. Nipsey gets hit multiple times. Witnesses hear him say, "You got me."

5:39 After Nipsey falls to the ground, already dying, Holder walks over and kicks him in the head twice. Prosecutors later used that kick to prove this wasn't a heat of the moment reaction. This was personal. Holder runs back to the alley. Drive, drive, or I'll slap you. Nicholson floors it. She drops him off and goes home. It's only when she turns on the news that night that she realizes what she's a part of. The autopsy report is brutal. Eleven gunshot wounds from at least ten separately fired shots. One bullet cut through his spine. Even if he survived the head wound, he would have been paralyzed for life. He was pronounced dead at 3.55 pm. The LAPD had crystal clear surveillance footage. By April 1st, they'd identified Holder. Brianita Nicholson saw her car on the news and went to the police station herself. She cooperated fully and got immunity. On April 2nd, Eric Holder Jr. was arrested.

6:38 He checked himself into a mental health facility in Bellflower. His surrender at a psychiatric hospital was the first hints of the defense strategy his lawyers would then use. The trial started in June 2022. Deputy District Attorney John McKinney hammered on that first nine-minute cooling-off period. Holder had time to reconsider. Instead, he drove around, loaded his weapons, positioned his getaway driver, and then came back. That's premeditation. The kick to Nipsy's head proved this was calculated. Public defender Aaron Jansen argued that being called a snitch by Nipsy Hussle was such a severe provocation that it triggered a heat of passion response and gang culture being labeled a snitch as a death threat. Those nine minutes weren't enough time for someone with auditory schizophrenia to calm down. Brianita Nicholson destroyed that defense. She described how he threatened her and loaded the gun deliberately.

7:35 Herman Cowboy Douglas testified that Nipsy was trying to help Eric Holder. Carrie Latham was the most heartbreaking witness. Even after being shot and paralyzed, he refused to identify Holder in court. He was still living by the no-snitching code even after becoming a victim himself. On July 6, 2022, the jury came back guilty of first degree murder. They rejected the heat of passion defense. Nine minutes was enough time to make a choice. On February 22, 2023, the judge sentenced Eric Holder Jr. to 60 years to life in prison. 25 years to life for the murder, another 25 for using a firearm, 10 years for assault. Judge Jackie said, "I am very mindful of what was presented as to Mr. Holder's mental health. I'm also mindful of the devastation caused to the victims and their families. I believe this sentence balances the two." Nipsy Hussle wasn't killed during a crime. He was killed while he was helping someone in the parking lot of a store he built to save his community. Rival gangs in LA declared a truce and marched together to honor him. Vector 90 is still operating. The marathon clothing brand lives on. Destination Khrinshal is under construction. A permanent monument to his vision. Nipsy used to say, "The highest human act is to inspire. His death was a brutal interpretation of that act. The man himself was stopped, but the marathon he started is still running."

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