Nipsey Hussle’s Alleged Killer Finally Gets Trial Date Following Multiple Delays

After two years, a trial date has finally been set for Eric Holder, the man who allegedly shot and killed Nipsey Hussle—birth name Ermias Joseph Asghedom—on March 31, 2019 in South Los Angeles.

Per Rolling Stone, the trial had been put off for a variety of reasons ranging from the retirement of a judge to the “elevation of Holder’s prior lawyer to a judgeship” and , of course, the pandemic. But despite all that, Holder will be getting his day in court on January 5, 2022.

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Holder’s lawyer Aaron Jansen claimed that his client was “off his medication” and was experiencing a “substantial mental health issue” the day he shot Hussle, though he declined to go into further detail about Holder’s mental diagnosis.

“He’s nervous, but he knows it’s time to get the case moving to trial,” Jansen explained.

In May of 2019, jurors heard from multiple witnesses over a span of three days, in particular, testimony from Herman Douglas, an associate of Hussle who was present for a conversation between the rapper and Holder on March 31, during which he alleged Hussle told the assailant to “watch his back.”

More on Douglas’ testimony per Rolling Stone:

Asghedom purportedly said there was some type of law enforcement “paperwork” suggesting Holder was cooperating with police, Douglas said. “Nipsey was basically looking out for him, telling him that, you know, ‘I haven’t read it, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but you need to address it.’ That’s what Nipsey was doing,” Douglas told the grand jurors.

After the short conversation, Holder walked away, ate some chili cheese fries, and returned about six minutes later, according to testimony. “Obviously that conversation about snitching was enough that it moved Eric Holder to a point of wanting to return to the parking lot and kill Nipsey Hussle,” McKinney said. “As he approached, he was prepared to fire as many shots as necessary and shoot as many people as necessary to ensure that he killed Nipsey Hussle.”

Holder was arrested two days later.

Following those testimonies, the jury indicted Holder on one count of murder, two counts of attempted murder for striking two bystanders, two counts of assault with a firearm, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

If convicted as charged, Holder could face life in prison.