Eric Holder, the man accused of fatally shooting the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, will finally stand trial after multiple delays. According to the Los Angeles Criminal Court, it is set to start on June 2. The hearing will be at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. In addition, a readiness hearing (also known as a settlement conference) is scheduled for May 19.
Holder was indicted in May 2019 on one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of felony possession of a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty on all counts. Hussle was killed on March 31, 2019 after being shot several times in the parking lot of his Marathon Clothing Store in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles.
Court documents state that Holder allegedly fired at least 10 rounds from a black semiautomatic handgun and a smaller silver revolver. He was arrested after a two-day manhunt. The case has been postponed several times. Trial was originally scheduled to start April 2020 before being held off until 2021 due to COVID-19.
Though it was rescheduled for May 2021, it was moved after Holden refused to leave his cell. The new date for the trial was then set for December 2021, but pushed back again after Holden’s attorney, Christopher Darden, recused himself from the case due to death threats he and his family received. If convicted, Holder faces life in prison.
At the time of his death, Hussle was just 33 years old. In 2020, he received a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance alongside Roddy Ricch and Hit-Boy for his song “Racks in the Middle.”