Grand Jury: Nipsey Hussle was shot after ‘snitch’ comments with suspect

LOS ANGELES — Before he was killed, Nipsey Hussle spent the afternoon of March 31 signing autographs, taking pictures with fans and talking with friends at the strip mall where he owned several businesses.

Around the same time, Eric Holder and a woman he was dating pulled into the crowded parking lot to get food from a burger restaurant. Holder spotted Hussle and decided to talk to the famed rapper, who was with a larger group.

They had a four-minute conversation, according to a prosecutor’s summary of the incident. At some point during the talk, the topic turned to snitching.

“Apparently, the conversation had something to do with (Hussle) telling Mr. Holder that word on the street was that Mr. Holder was snitching,” Deputy District Attorney John McKinney told the grand jury. “The conversation wasn’t particularly intense. It wasn’t particularly belligerent.”

The prosecutor also said Holder was heard saying to Hussle: “So you’ve never snitched?” or “Haven’t you snitched?”

The narrative comes from McKinney’s opening statement during a May grand jury hearing. A coroner testified that Hussle sustained at least 10 gunshot wounds from head to toe, including to his scalp, chest, abdomen and foot. Six bullets were removed from his body.

A judge ordered the release of the 515-page document Thursday after the Los Angeles Times argued in court for public access.

The documents offer the clearest narrative yet about the slaying of Hussle in March, a killing that sparked days of memorials and grieving. Los Angeles police have said the motive for the shooting was a personal dispute. But the documents reveal more details about the words alleged to have been exchanged between Hussle and Holder.

The panel returned a sixcount indictment charging Holder, 29, with one count of murder, two counts each of attempted murder and assault with a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He has pleaded not guilty.

Holder and the woman then drove off. While in the car, Holder pulled out a gun and told the woman to drive around the block. She testified that he began loading it in the car. He directed her to pull over and said that he’d be right back.

That’s when he walked up to Hussle and fired multiple rounds at him from two different guns, the prosecutor said. He jumped back into the car and instructed the woman to drive away. When she asked what happened, he said to drive or he would slap her.

Holder’s public defender had sought to keep the document secret until after his trial, arguing that making it public could jeopardize her client’s right to a fair and impartial trial.

A key prosecution witness is the driver, the woman who had been dating Holder. She was not identified by name because of threats made online and was offered immunity for her testimony.

The attack on Hussle, an influential rapper and activist, reverberated far beyond his South Los Angeles neighborhood.